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Si&elitu

50 CENTS

THE MAGAZINE FOR MUSIC LISTENERS

WHAT'S f ) A IN TAPE RECORDING

i immune to temperature
'impervious to moisture
< practically unbreakable

■ I

type EP \

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A Here's a professional magnetic sound record-
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and durability. It can be used and stored un-
der the most extreme conditions of temperature
and humidity without any ill effects. For all
practical purposes, it is virtually unbreakable.
Now available on 1, IV2 and 2 mil Mylar*, in
standard sizes from 600 to 2,500 ft. Write for
Bulletin No. 201.

* *

The new EP Audiotape provides the extra
precision that is so important to dependable
magnetic data recording and reproduction. It
is especially produced to meet the most exact-
ing requirements for uniformity and freedom
from microscopic imperfections. Available in
'/," to 2" widths, 1,225 to 5,000 feet. Write for
Bulletin No. 207.

inanufaeturttlhy

AUDIO DEVICES, Inc.

Audiotape, now available on green, blue or
brown plastic base — and Audiotape reels in
red, yellow, green, blue and clear plastic —
provide instant identification that can simplify
your cueing, filing, recording and playback
problems. Write for Bulletin No. 209.

AUDIO DEVICES, Inc.

Dept. A5, 444 Madison Ave., New York, 22, N. Y.

Export Dept., 13 Eatt 40th St., New York 16, N. Y., Cablel "ARLAB"

www.americanradiohistorv.com

THE GREATER TRi-PLEX

BY JENSEN

The new TRi-PLEX is the result of
further research directed toward the en-
hancement of all the qualities for which this
famed Jensen 3-way system has been noted.

Musicians, record collectors, sound
engineers and laymen contributed to the
concept and participated in the five years
acoustical research and exhaustive psycho-
acoustic tests. Even the slightest false col-
oration effects have been eliminated — there
is no raucous tinkle or exaggerated percus-
sion, stridency is missing from the violins.
And there is an extreme smoothness of
response and a precisely adjusted intra-
range balance— the individual instruments
stand out in true dimensional separat on.
The vocalist steps out in front of the musi-
cians. You're bound to agree that here is
fine listening indeed.

At $312.70 net the TRi-PLEX in
mahogany factory assembled com-
plete with individual certificate of
performance— in korlna blonde
$316.80 net. Jensen back-loading
improved bass cabinets only— Model
BL-220 (12-Inch speakers) mahog-
any $89.50 net, korina blonde $92.50
net— Model BL-250 (15-inch speak-
ers) Mahogany $128.00 net, korina
blonde $130,90 net.

eitten

MANUFACTURING COMPANY

DIVISION OF THE MUTER COMPANY

6601 S. LARAMIE AVENUE, CHICAGO 38, ILLINOIS

IN CANADA: COPPER WIRE PRODUCTS. LTD., LICENSEE

You're in the best of company if you use a Pickering Cartridge. You have this in common with:

1. Leading record companies who use Pickering Cartridges for quality control.

% Leading FM/AM go<></ music stations and network studios.

3. Leading manufacturers of professional equipment for radio stations, record-
ing studios, wired music systems and atitomal'u phonographs, who install
Pickering Cartridges for the maximum performance of their equipment.

Wty Pickering /%te&m Pickups are the Choice of Recording and Broadcast Engineers!

"All modern disc recordin g s are made with /ff/46&tf& precise laboratory measurements. This is why Picker-
cutters. Within the geometrical and mechanical lim- ing /ff/t<%&/?£ Pickups provide the most nearly perfect
itations of recording and reproducing equipment, a
Pickering Pickup will re-generate an exact replica of
/tyteflfeM cutter response to the original program of
music, speech or sound. This is a fundamentally in-
herent characteristic of the Pickering Pickup, sup-
ported by basic electromagnetic theory and countless

«ng. t

coupling possible, between reproducing equipment
and original program. This is why they sound cleaner
. . . less distorted.

"Through the medium of the disc material, the re-
producing system is effectively driven by the cutter
electrical response itself."

^j| g|l PICKERING and company incorporated • Oceanside, L.M., Neur York

PICKERING PROFESSIONAL AUDIO COMPONENTS

//ate r<m

Demorn'rored and told by leading Radio Parll DiltribulOM everywhere, for the one nearetl you and for detailed literature; write Dept. H-5.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

THE MAGAZI

This Issue. After the
May 1953 issue, we were
criticized for using a
cover-picture of Mo-
zart that "idealized"
him. We don't expect
any such comments an-
ent Franz Schubert and
our June 1954 cover.
The print used, a like-
ness by a contemporary, was furnished by
the Bettmann Archive, New York. It sig-
nalizes our second Schubert discograpliy
(to be found in the Record Section), bring-
ing up to date the one we ran two years ago.

Next Issue. We're always glad to get on
a bandwagon, even when we think it's been
overdue for some time. In July you will
find us perched happily on one labeled
"Hector Berlioz." It's the great Frenchman's
sesqui-centennial year, and the country-
side will be ringing with his music. Our con-
tributions: a Berlioz cover and a lead-article
on Berlioz, including discography, written
by John N. Burk, program annorator for
the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Accepting
the assignment, Mr. Burke described himself
as a true Berlioz-fiend, but admitred with
ill-concealed glee that there were nearly
two-dozen Berlioz records in the LP roster
that he didn't own. Now he does.

Charles Fowler, Publisher

John M. Conly, Editor

Roy H. Hoopes, Jr., Managing Editor

Roy F. Allison, Associate Editor

Roy Lindstrom, Art Director

James Hinton, Jr.,
New York Representative

Contributing Editors

C. G. Burke
James G. Deane
Edward T. Wallace

Mansfield E. Pickett, Director of
Advertising Sales

Warren B. Syer, Business Manager

Frank R. Wright, Circulation Manager

Branch Offices (Advertising only): New York:
Room 600, 6 East 39th Street. Telephone:
Murray Hill 5-6332. Fred C. Miehalove. Eastern
Manager. • Chicago: 5449 W. Augusta Blvd. Tele-
phone: Columbus 1-1779. Charles Kline, Mid-
Western Manager. - Los Angeles: 1052 West 6th
Street. Telephone: Madison 6-1371. Edward Brand,
West Coast Manager.

Hitjh Jitlvlihi

i F OR MUSIC LISTENERS

Volume 4 Number 4

June 1954

Noted With Interest. 5

Letters 13

As the Editors See It 25

The Talking Machine Becomes the VICTOR, by Roland Gelatt 26

Out of a welter of litigation is born the company destined to
become the world's biggest phonograph maker.

Summer Music in the Americas — 1954 29

A Round-up by James Hinton, Jr.

Raise Your Own Audiophiles, by Thomas I. Lucci 31

A how-to-do-it article in a completely new vein.

Adventurers in Sound, by John S.Wilson 33

The Doodletown Vifers.

Custom Installations....... 36

The Audio Club for Musicians and Music Lovers 38

Records in Review. 4 '-74

Tasted In The Home 75

Fold-a-Flex Speaker Enclosure
Electro- Voice 1 5 TRX Speaker
Craftsmen C900 Tuner
Stark Solder-Quik Iron
Electro- Voice FM Booster

Audio Forum 95

Professional Directory 96-97

Music Listener's Bookshelf 99

Traders' Marketplace. I0 2

Advertising Index -< Q ^

High Fidelity M agazine is published monthly by Audiocom, Inc., at Great Barrington, Mass Telephone*
Great Barrington 1300. Editorial, publication, and circulation offices at: The Publishing House Great
Barrington, Mass. Subscriptions: $6.00 per year in the United States and Canada. Single copies: 50 cents
each. Editorial contributions will be welcomed by the editor. Payment (or articles accepted will be ar-
ranged prior to publication. Unsolicited manuscripts should be accompanied by return postage. En-
tered as second-class matter April 27, 1951 at the post •mce at Great Barrington, Mass., under the act
of March 3, 1879. Additional entry at the post office, Pittsfleld, Mass. Member Audit Bureau of Circula-
tion. Printed in the U. S. A. by The Ben Franklin Press. Pitta field. Mass. Copyright 1954 by Audiocom
Inc. The cover design and contents of High Fidelity magazine are fully protected by copyrights and must
not be reproduced in any manner.

June, 1954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

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Concertone has dozens of features as outstanding as these
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FLUTTER AND WOW: less than 0.1% R.M.S.
SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO: better than 50 db
TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION: less than 2%

BfRLANT ASSOCIATES Manufacturers of Berlant professional tape recorders ana accessories. • 4917 West Jefferson Boulevard. Los Angeles 16, California

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

H. H. SCOTT

Mac's Prizes

Any item which concerned a Scotsman
giving prizes (or anything, for that
matter) would be newsworthy. So
we've been watching with considerable
interest for the results of the contest
sponsored by Mcintosh Laboratory's
own Scotsman, Mr. Mac himself.
Since the results will be announced
in High Fidelity, we wrote recently
for any available information. No
final announcements yet . . . but here's
the story to date, in Mac's own words:
"Once upon a time, there was a
jolly Scotsman Mac (that's me)
who invented an audio amplifier with
a brand new circuit. I started manu-
facturing these amplifiers and every-
thing went along fine . . . until the
day I decided such a distinguished
circuit deserved a distinctive name. As
the days passed and the nighrs turned
bright with insomnia, it began to
look like fine names for amplifier cir-
cuits were harder to design than fine
amplifiers. Then, in worry and won-
der, I sent out a call for help. I con-
quered my ancestral instincts and put
up some prizes for the best suggestions
and advertised the 'Name the Mcin-
tosh Circuit" contest.

"Did help ever arrive! Suggestions
were received for running the com-
pany, redesigning the product, chang-
ing the advertising — in fact, every-
thing from painting the building to
the considerate suggestion that I drop
dead. Even some circuit names were
submitted.

"One man sent in 223 entries, each
on a file card and all arranged alpha-
betically. Another explained that he
lived in Turkey and had become sold
on my amplifier while listening to an
an American diplomat's hi-fi system.
Unfortunately, the diplomat a nar-
row minded fellow took his hi-fi
system with him when he was trans-

JUNE, 1954

still setting the standards

e new

H H. Scot "121

" DYNAURAL
Equalizer Preamplifier

Wc liclicvc the new "121" Control unit to lie tlic finest over offered. For tlie
connoisseur, the 121 affords complete control and compensation for any
record anil record condition, nasi, present and future. Rolloff frequency and
both turnover frequency and extent of honst arc continuously adjustable for
any equalization curve. 1 lie amazing DvnaUral Noise Suppressor Hives you-
actual concert presence by virtually eliminating turntable rumble and record
scratch or hiss. 1 he improved rumble suppression is essential if you arc to
enjoy fully the range imssihle with new extended-bass sneaker systems. Self-
powered, finished in durable liand-tooled leather, the new "I2l" Dv.NAURAL
control unit offers every refinement possilile at this stale of the art.

2 20- A
Power Amplifier

120- A
Equalizer
Preamplifier

210-B DYNAURAL Amplifier " " "

2)4 A Remote Control Amplifier

From earliest days of high fidelity, H. M. Scott amplifiers linve consist-
ently srl design and performance standards. Rated "first choice" by
C. G. Burke in the Saturday Review Home hook lliey have been
Com mended as finest on the market hy experts such as Harold Weilcr,
author of "High Fidelity Simplified". In 1951. the John H. Polls Memorial
Medal of the Audio Engineering Society was awarded to H, H. Scott for
important contributions to audio science. One of the world s leading manu-
facturers of laboratory-standard sound measuring and analyzing instru-
ments, HL H. ScOTT. Inc. received the 1949 ' Electrical Manufacturing"
Award for outstanding instrument design.

The patented DynaUraL Noise Suppressor is unique. So arc many
fundamental features sometimes difficult to rale in specifications. Hut
these contribute to that essential difference separating the stiperh from
other units. Listener- designed loudness coiiijm* n sat ion. louest beat-tone
intcrmodulatioji. 5-channel tone controls, the self-balancing phase inverter
which automatically balances output tubes (standard on all H I f. Scott

reasons

amplifiers for 6 years) — these are
eminence of H. H. SCOTT amplifiers

FREE BOOKLET HF6-54

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^tf Tft&se who demand t£ejmest

olwrtUj cko BELL

Selection of the proper audio system for your home is

important . , . for beautiful music belongs in a beautiful home.

And music lovers and audio experts agree there is no finer

high fidelity amplifier than a BELL.

Among the many superior high fidelity amplifiers in the

Bell line is the 2122C. Its many features are the

result of careful engineering, and the utilization of the latest

developments in high fidelity audio research.

Visit your local hi-fi dealer today and ask for a personal
demonstration of the 2122C. Even this moderately
priced unit is dramatic proof that there is no finer
high fidelity amplifier than Bell.

For complete specifications, write
for Bell Catalog No. 542 today!

T"
I

Model 2122C

ell Sound Systems, Inc.

555-57 Marion Road

Columbus 7, Ohio

Export Office: 401 Broadway, New York 13, N. Y.

A Subsidiary of
Thompson Products, Inc.

ferred. This posed a problem, as
Turkey wouldn't let him send dollars
out of the country to buy a Mcintosh.
Therefore, he had to win one. Another
fellow said he couldn't think of any
good name — but he sure wanted a
Mac. Agreement was complete among
117 people who submitted the same
name; 96 agreed on another. Many
sent in suggested drawings of how to
use the name.

"Entries poured in from places I'd
never even heard of and was sure had
never heard a Mcintosh. (High Fi-
delity must really get around.) They
were received from people in all oc-
cupations, from chief engineers of
radio stations and research scientists
with the Government, to leading musi-
cians and people who just like music.

"My contest judges spent a lot of
time considering the thousands of
entries and choosing the winners. I
want all of you to know that I ap-
preciate your interest and help. And,
I hope you all had as much fun enter-
ing the contest as I and the judges
did going through the wealth of good
material you sent in.

"The names of the winners can be
found in High Fidelity's July issue."

(Signed) Mac.

Sorry to tantalize you . . . but some-
thing like four or five thousand people
(who entered the contest) will have to
sit on the edge of their chairs for a
while yet.

Author, author !

Funny thing happened when we came
around to planning the AUTHORita-
tively Speaking column this month
(you'll note there isn't any), and it
made us feel somehow old and settled.
'Twas this. We didn't have a new
author in the book, about whom to
get biographical. Roland Gelatt's
been in three times, Tom Lucci twice,
John Wilson every issue for more
than a year (reviewing jazz), Fred
Plaut once, John Conly ad nauseam
(his own descriptive phrase), and
James Hinton with equal regularity.
Even apart from the last two staff-
members, it appears that we have
reached that enviable age among
periodicals when they can lay claim
to (as the saying goes) a reliable
stable of writers.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Me &etf<&4& $#a When Wen Mm

THE FISHER

Custom Audio Components

■ If you are buying 'for keeps' buy the best first! Buy FISHER, quality leader for seventeen years.
Engineered for the professional, functionally designed for home use. "Of the very best!"-H/g/i Fidelity.

FM-AM TUNER, Model 70-RT

Features extreme sensitivity. low distortion and low
hum. Armstrong system, adjustable FM-AFC and AM
selectivity. Preamplifier-equalizer, 2 inputs, 2 cathode
follower outputs. Six controls. Self-powered. $184.50

FM-AM TUNER, Model 50-R

Same features as 70-RT above, but designed for use
with external preamplifier-equalizer such as 50-C. Hum
level better than 100 db below 2 volts output. Fully
shielded and shock-mounted. Self-powered. $164.50

MASTER AUDIO CONTROL, Series 50-C

16 choices of record equalization, plus separate bass
and treble tone controls, loudness balance control. Five
inputs and input level controls, two cathode follower
outputs. Chassis only, $89.50 • With cabinet, $97.50

25-WATT AMPLIFIER, Model 70-A

50-watts peak! More clean watts per dollar. Less than
Vi% distortion at 25 watts (0.05% at 10 watts.) Re-
sponse ±0.1 db, 20-20,000 cycles; 1 db, 10 to 50,000
cycles. Hum and noise virtually non-measurable! $99.50

50-WATT AMPLIFIER, Model 50-A

100-watts peak! World's finest all-triode amplifier. Uni-
form within 1 db, 5 to 100,000 cycles. Hum and noise
96 db below full output. IM distortion below 2% at 50
watts. Highest quality components thruout. $159.50

SPEAKER ENCLOSURE, Series 50

NEW! Regardless of the speaker or enclosure you are
now using, the "50" Morn will revolutionize its per-
formance. For use with 12" or 15" speaker systems.
50-HM (Mahogany) $ 129.50 • 50-HB(BIonde)$134.50

PREAMPLIFIER-EQUALIZER, Model 50 PR

Professional phono equalization facilities at low cost!
Independent switches for LF turn-over and HF roll-off.
Output lead up to 50 feet. Can accommodate any low-
level, magnetic pickup. Self-powered. $22.95

HI LO FILTER SYSTEM, Model 50 F

Does what ordinary tone controls cannot do, for it sup-
presses all types of noise with an absolute minimum
loss of tonal range. High impedance input; cathode
follower output. Use with any equipment. $29.95

Prices slightly higher west of the Rockies

WRITE TODAY FOR COMPLETE SPECIFICATIONS

FISHER RADIO CORPORATION • 45 EAST 47th STREET • NEW YORK, N. Y.

H jillll III M II I II I I II 111 HI) 1 1 II f M 1 II til IM 1 1 II If I It I 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 II II II I II III 1 1 1 1 1 1 \ I 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II MH I

June, 1954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

BEAM

BRINGS YOU THE FINEST

QUALITY, VALUE
and PERFORMANCE

ACOUSTICAL

QUAD II

AMPLIFIER & CONTROL UNIT

Finest in appearance . . . efficient in design . . . superb in tion; plug-in matching to your choice of pick-up, automat-
performance and workmanship . . . this is the British-made ically correcting for best sound, least noise; adjustable
Acoustical Quad II Amplifier and Q.C. II Control Unit. bandwidth and slope of roll-off; stable balanced feedback
The Quad features high sensitivity from 1.5MV., full- throughout and a full 15 watts of audio output 20-20,000
range fidelity, 10 to 60,000 cps., within M db; independent <=ps. *«*n the 14 section output transformer,
harmonic filtering, freeing bass and treble controls for set- Add the graceful, richly finished styling - the most
ting perfect musical balance without distortion or loss of functional in high fidelity today - and you have good rea-
harmonics; push-button equalization and channel selec- son to see and hear the QUAD at your earliest opportunity.

System Complete $237.50 net

Quad II Amplifier alone . $130.00 net

Q.C. II Control Unit alone $120.00 net

® STENTORIAN

FULL RANGE SPEAKERS

Full-range high fidelity loudspeakers in a wide range of types and sizes,
for every audio purpose — these are the British-made VV/B Stentorian
speakers. Never before has such superb response, dynamic realism and
high magnet sensitivity been achieved in a speaker anywhere near the
Stentorian's prices. No speaker at any price has all the exacting pre-
cision features of the Stentorian Duplex Twin-Concentric 12" and 10"
models: patented LF diaphragm of impregnated uncurcd cambric; die-
cast chassis; phase-matched high frequency horn formed by machined
magnet center pole; frequency response 20 to 20,000 cps; bass reson-
ance 35 cps.; and built-in crossover network. 12"* Duplex model, (20-
20,000 cps), 15 watts, $99.50. 10"* Duplex model, (30-16,000 cps),
10 watts, $44.50. All VV/B Stentorians are beautifully finished in
crackle gold. All voice coil and input impedances are 15 ohms.

"j" leaden in loudspeaker manufacture for over 30 yean

Send for complete literature on theie superior audio products

BEAM INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION

350 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 1, N. Y.

STENTORIAN
HF TWEETER5

3,000-20,000 cps.
Hear the difference.
T-10, 5 watt, $17.95
TO 2, 1 5 wort, $45.00

CROSSOVER
NETWORK

Crossover at 3000
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and both output im-
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BEAM
HIGH FIDELITY
ENCLOSURES

Corner and wall boss
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from $«9.S0

STENTORIAN
lft" WOOFER

Giant of pure LF
sound, 2Vi" voice
cail, 25-6,000 cps.
Die-cast chassis. 30
watt rating. Crackle
gold finish. $139.50

Beam also bring* you a complete
line of extended range, high fidel-
ity Stentorian direct radiators; all
with the new patented W/B dia-
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them for price and performance
to prove their outstanding value:
Model HF 121 35*, 25-14,000 cps,
12", $39.50, IS watt; HF 1012*,
30-14,000 cps, 10", $14.95, 10
watt; HF 912*, 40-13,000 cps, 9",
$11.55, 7 watt; HF B10, SO-12,000
cps, 8", $B.95, 5 waft; HF 610,
60-12,000 cps, 6", $6.95; HF 510,
100-12,000 cps, 5", $6.55.

*Precision Die-Cast chassis.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

at ALLIED

high-fidelity Sffi^
is not expensive

the ^M&ftkiqfo

24-WATT DELUXE
HI-FI AMPLIFIER

Continued from page G

Half vs. Single Track Recording

We don't know how many of our
readers saw a recent statement (not in
High Fidelity) to the effect that the
frequency response which could be ex-
pected from half-track recording on
tape was substantially less than that
possible with full-track heads. If you
saw it, we hope you will disregard it;
it is not true. Frequency response in a
tape recorder is dependent on many
factors — such as tape speed, amplifier
characteristics, effective gap length,
and so on — but full track recordings
will not have almost double the fre-
quency response; track width has, un-
der normal conditions, nothing to
do with frequency response.

We checked a good many authori-
ties to be sure we were correct in our
impression. One of them wrote,
"What was probably meant was that a 1
full track tape would have double the j
energy of a half track tape. One would
expect to achieve about 6 db better
signal-to-noise ratio from a full track
tape than from a half track tape. In
practice this is more than 5 db."

We know that this error was merely
a slip of the pen, but we are bringing
it up because it's a slip which could
confuse many people and injure the
blossoming tape industry.

FM Antennas, Continued

From Roy C. Kepler of Station KPFA,
Berkeley, Calif., comes a most in-
teresting letter which we include in
this column because of its general
interest:

"In the March issue of High Fi-
delity one of your readers, Mr. Arthur
Robinson, writing from Volcano, Cali-
fornia, makes a plea for articles dealing
with high fidelity FM and AM recep-
tion in rural areas. He points out that
he is 60 miles from Sacramento and
Stockton, and about 150 miles from
San Francisco, high on a mountain in
the Sierras.

I shall leave to others to supply Mr.
Robinson and the many people like
him who live in the Wide Open Spaces,
with information about hi-fi equip-
ment. But as far as reception of FM

June, 1954

GOLDEN KNIGHT HI-FI MUSIC SYSTEMS

PHONO SYSTEM. A super value, true
high fidelity phono system, complete
with color-coded cables and plugs for
easy custom installation. Includes
'Golden Knight" Amplifier; Electro-
Voice SP-12B 12' Radax Speaker;
famous Garrard RC-80 3-speed record
changer, and G.E. RPX-050 triple-
play magnetic cartridge with dual-tip
sapphire stylus. For 110-120 v., 60
cycle AC. 60 lbs.

94 SX 127. Net, only. . $161.75
FM-AM-PHONO SYSTEM. As above, but
includes new Knight 727 High-Fidelity
FM-AM Tuner. Shpg. wt., 76 lbs.
94SX128. Net, only $214.50

±0.75 db, 20 to 40,000 CPS

THE FINEST FOR LESS. A tremendous value
designed for optimum performance in
limited-budget home music systems.
Features very wide response with ex-
tremely low distortion, (harmonic, less
than 1% at rated output; intermodula-
tion, less than 0.5% at normal listening
level); low hum and noise (80 db below-
rated output); plenty of reserve power;
selector switch for proper loading of
G.E., Pickering or Audak cartridges;
Equalizer Switch for accurate playback
of all records; bass and treble controls;
inputs for magnetic phono, mike, tuner,
auxiliary (crystal phono, tape, TV, etc.).
Chassis finished in satin-gold. 8 x 14 x 9
deep. Complete with connectors, in-
structions, shaft extenders and separate
lucite panel. For 110-130 v., 50-60 cy.
A.C. Shpg. wt., 30 lbs. Guaranteed for
one full year. Detailed specification
sheet available on request.
93 SX 321 . Net, only $79.50

NEW
LOW COST

HI-FI J /

TUNER *0 ^ ^

HARMAN-KARDON FM-AM TUNER

An amazing value with every fine
feature of costly deluxe units:
Automatic frequency control for
simple, accurate, drift-free tun-
ing; Foster-Seeley discriminator
circuit and low noise, grounded
grid triode front -end; FM sensi-
tivity — 8 microvolts for 30 db
quieting; AM sensitivity — 100
microvolts with built-in antenna;
response — ± 0.5 db, 20 to 20,000
cps; audio distortion — less than
1% at rated output; hum level
65 db below rated output. 7 tube
circuit; built-in AM antenna; out-
door antenna connection; input
for crystal phono; auxiliary AC
outlet. Brushed copper panel.
Size: 8" h, 11' w, 7" d. Complete
with tubes. For 110-120 v., 60
cycle AC. Shpg. wt., 5 lbs.
99 SX081. Net $49.50

Free 268-Page Catalog

Write today for ALLIED'S
complete guide to the world's
largest selection of High-
Fidelity home music systems,
amplifiers, tuners, speakers,
changers, recorders and accessor-
ies. If it's anything in Hi-Fi it's in
stock at ALLIED.

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Everything in High-Fidelity

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Build Your Own

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AMPLIFIER

KNIGHT 10-WATT HI-FI AMPLIFIER KIT

It's easy to assemble this fine fidelity
amplifier. High gain characteristics; !^
volt drives amplifier to 10 watts output.
Response, ± 1 db, 30-30,000 cps at 10
watts. Harmonic distortion, less than
0.5% at 10 watts; intermodulation, less
than 1.5% at 10 watts. Separate bass
and treble controls. Input for crystal
phono or tuner. Matches 8 ohm speakers.
Chassis will accommodate preamp kit
(below) for use with magnetic cartridges.
Kit is complete with tubes, all parts,
punched chassis. Easy to build from
clear pictorial instructions. Size: 7 x 13 x
6*. For 110-120 v., 50-60 cy. AC. Shpg.
wt., 14 lbs.

83 SX 234. Net $21.95

83 S 235. Equalized Preamp Kit. 6SL7 tube
and all parts ready for wiring into ampli-
fier chassis above. Shpg. wt., 1 lb.
Net $2.95

ALLIED RADIO CORP., Dept. 49.F-4
100 IM. Western Ave., Chicago 80, III.

□ Send FREE 1954 Catalog.

Ship the following

$ enclosed.

Name

Address

| City

Zone

State

www.amerinanrariiohistorv.nnm

ijou want a
balanced Speaker System
for perfect clarity and
full range vdunae u;ifh low pozoer

GENERAL APPARATUS

LOOK TO

For, wherever good hi-fi components are used,
G. A.'s flexible designs will help you to bring
out that last bit of unsuspected quality. You
will get a unique satisfaction from assembling
the best hi-fi known at moderate cost. You
can go at it step by step, if you wish.

The details of efficiency, the secret of balanced and
free-flowing sound are so easy to find because G. A.'s
components and instructions are simple. One non-
technical Doctor, who saved several hundred dollars
making up his own fine speaker system, went ahead
(as he.described it) on the "easy as a cake mix" idea.
But there is no harm in understanding about it too,
so write to G. A. for a prompt reply. Tell us what
you now use and how far you wish to go ahead.
We will take an interest in your own particu-
lar ideas and needs.

Our customers are grand people. We know it,
for so many of them write to thank us, as did
Howard W. Bacon, "for letters so obviously above
and beyond" — for helping him to develop a "great
system." You can make one too.

G. A. fixed Networks for speaker systems are of unsur-
passed efficiency. Send iof for the network Data Sheet
which lists part combinations for use with many kinds
of speakers.

VAC — Variable Audio Crossover Controls change the
crossover point at the turn of a knob, have independently
controlled outputs. See previous G. A. ads in High Fi-
delity. Full details, photos, diagrams in 8 page construc-
tion booklet, $1.00, deductible later from cost of kit.

The Dual Air Coupler — assembled or just the knock-
down plywood parts. Full bass, 20 to 200 cps. with
any appropriate speaker, loud or soft
with no amplifier bass boost on a cor-
rected or full signal. Send io{? for the
Air Coupler answer folder.

General Apparatus Company

MAIN STREET SHEFFIELD, MASS.

goes, I must ask you not to feel too
sorry for him. Mr. Robinson is one
of our listener sponsors and he re-
ceives this station quite well, even
though our transmitter is almost 150
miles from him high on the Berkeley
Hills just across from San Francisco.

Earlier, last year, we exchanged some
correspondence with Mr. Robinson
and were able to give him some help
with the installation of antennas, etc.
To be sure that he is up to date, I am
sending him more recent material
which has been drawn up by our en-
gineer, Bruce Harris, and has served
us well throughout our signal area —
which covers a good part of Northern
California: north to Marysville, all
along the Sierras and southward in
the valley to beyond Modesto; and
southward along the Coast to Carmel
and Monterey.

By far the most successful antenna
for peripheral areas is the five-element
yagi cut to our frequency which we
make available to our subscribers at
$6.75. These are now in use in many
communities from Carmel to Sacra-
mento.

In general, it would be safe to say
that our experience has shown that
FM reception is much easier and much
less expensive to achieve than is usual-
ly thought by radio dealers and theore-
ticians.

At any rate, for your information,
and for that of any of your readers in
the general area of Northern Cali-
fornia mentioned above, we will be
happy to supply information, tech-
niques, equipment, and even (in many
communities) men to help if it is FM
reception that is the problem."

(Signed) Roy C. Kepler

We'd like to remind readers that
sharply cut antennas work best with
the station for which they are designed.
In our location, we have also had
excellent results with newly developed
8-element broad-band yagis which
cover the entire FM band with fine
sensitivity.

High Fidelity No. 4, Wanted

Add to the list of those wanting the
rare copy of High Fidelity: John
Hrovec, 100 Mt. Pleasant Avenue,
Newark 4, N. J.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

thrilling authentic high fidelity from 40 to 15,000 bps

The elegant V-M Fidelis (Model 560) table model high fidelity phonograph is first to
offer you the musical pleasures of an audio system that includes three extended
range speakers, extra large, exclusive bass reflex tone chamber that provides superior
quality low frequency performance equal to console size instruments, plus full range angular
tone dispersion. Exclusive V-M tone-o-matic® loudness control affords equal hearing
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June, 1954

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SPECIALIZATION

MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

Specialization may be defined as the concentration of
all effort to a special or specific course of action

Even a mechanical device concerned with the function of record
reproduction should possess all the advantages of such specialization.

Most units undertake to do much more. They change records,
mix records, flip records, reject records, and assume a multitude of other
functions. This is 'generalization' as distinguished from 'specialization'.

The REK-O-KUT turntable^ on the other hand, is devoted
entirely to playing records. And every design feature, every fragment
of engineering know-how has been devoted and restricted
to the all-important job of playing records ... to provide the
constant, steady, unwavering record motion necessary for
the faithful reproduction of records free of mechanical distortion.

Specialization makes that difference. And all of the
efforts and facilities of the manufacturer shall continue
to be intensively devoted to that one objective . . .
that one aim: To make the finest turntables in the world.

There is a REK-O-KUT Turntable for your specific discriminating
requirement. Seven models are available at prices ranging from $59.50.
At Leading Radio Parts Distributors and at Sound and Music Dealers.

Write for Descriptive Literature

TURNTABLES

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In Canada: Atlas Radio Corp.. Ltd.. 560 King Street, W., Toronto 2B

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Sir:

Having followed your magazine
since the famous first issue, I have
seen again and again clever 'built-in'
installations of hi-fi equipment. Break-
fronts, false walls, closets, dish cabin-
ets, commodes, desks; all have felt
the mechanic's touch and have swal-
lowed at a gulp tuners, amplifiers,
turntables and tape recorders.

As I glanced over my equipment
comfortably distributed over the living
room floor, I had a kind of 'left-out'
feeling. Somehow I just wasn't with
it. But what to do? I have nothing
that opens, unfolds, swings back or
drops down — in short, no way of
making my hi-fi system look at all
like anything else.

Last night, in utter desperation, I
took the ultimate step, (and I say
this in a hushed whisper) I discussed
the matter with my wife! In the cool
way in which she usually disposes of
my toughest problems; in the casual,
off-hand manner which has set me
back two years with my analyst, she
pointed a well -manicured finger. Eu-
reka! We had it!

Here was the solution to every prob-
lem. It opened in two directions, it
would hold all our equipment without
bulging, when closed it resembled
something else completely. The per-
fect answer to our problem.

The installation was the work of a
moment. As we stood back and sur-
veyed the results with pride, it oc-
curred to us that this could well be
the solution to the problems besetting
many other enthusiasts in our position.
So, herewith is a photograph of the
result so that all may benefit from our
experience.

John GeUston
St. Louis, Mo.

See page 1 5 for picture of Mr.
Goldston's discovery. — Ed.

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June, 1954

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HHntosh

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C-108 Professional Audio Compensator

The abundant flexibility of the beautiful new
Mcintosh C-108 Professional Audio Compensator assures you
of the most listening pleasure from all of your records. Five bass

turnover switches and five treble attenuation positions as well as variable bass
and treble controls compensate for all recording curves — those in
use today and any that may be used in the future. A rumble filter diminishes

or completely eliminates turntable rumble, especially annoying when
listening to older records. An Aural Compensator Control maintains

proper bass and treble loudness when you play your system
at low volume level. The C-108 for the first time combines

beauty and abundant flexibility with ease of operation.

FREE BOOKLET

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LABORATORY, INC.

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High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

TbeGoldston all-range rollaway {see p. 13).
Sir:

On the forty-second page of your
number for April, the present year,

Mr. D. . . . R in writing upon a

performance by some lady of a group
of six Suites, titled "English," but
composed by a Mr. Bach, depends his
expression of sentiments from a sally
which he attributes, without, I believe,
sufficient scholarly basis, to a Mr.
George Bernard Shaw. Your reviewer
has written: "It was George Bernard
Shaw, I believe, who once said that a
woman pianist is to be regarded in the
same manner as one looks upon a dog
walking upon its hind legs. One
doesn't criticize it; one merely marvels
at the fact it can be done at all."

Now, Sir, I shall forbear from com-
ment upon the literary infelicity of this
passage; that its syntax is of unmiti-
gated barbarousness is not of present
concern. No sensible man steps from
his path to trample a midge at the way-
side. I know not who Mr. D. . . ,
R. . . .may be, nor his Mr. Shaw. Nor
do I care to know; for the one is an
ignoramus and the both are literary
tumblebugs of a familiar and noisome
kind.

The remark "believed" — and in
such a use what is belief but sheerest
sloth? — by Mr. D. ... R. ... to
have been made by his Mr. Shaw,
was made, in fact, by me, if in a some-
what more meaningful connection.
"Sir," I said, and Mr. Boswell will
serve as my witness in this matter,
"a woman's preaching is like a dog's
walking on its hinder legs. It is not
done well; but you are surprised to
find it done at all."

Tune, 1954

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Two Great New Products!

FISHER

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■ THE FISHER Series 50-H Horn Speaker Enclosures can be used with 12"
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instantly apparent, Over-all balance, (rather than an overpowering, and therefore
unnatural bass response). • Smooth response to below 30 cycles. • Does not require
corner placement. • Air-loading of bass is over four times that of infinite baffle. • No
listener fatigue, regardless of volume level. • Markedly improves any speaker system.
Model 50-HU (Mahogany) $129.50 • Model 50-HB (Blonde) $134.50

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Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll'

It is not a remark in which I take
particular pride, except that it ex-
pressed a thought that was my own,
and expressed it with precision. If
Mr. Shaw has seen fit to ingest it and
spew it forth anew upon liis own bar-
ren plot, that is a matter about which
I can rouse myself to no great interest;
plagiarists have infested the earth since
Adam. Mr. D. ... R. ... is in sadder
plight. Not content to pick the drop-
pings of his betters, he knows not even
who his betters are, nor how to use
them. For the sake of the readers of
your sheet, it is to be hoped that his
ignorance of music is not so abysmal
as his ignorance both of literary history
and of the proprieties of writing that
should be as firmly possessed by the
lowliest scrivener as by the most
eminent scholar.

(Dr.) Samuel Johnson
Westminster Abbey
London, England

Sir:

I have just read in the April issue of
High Fidelity a letter written by Mr.
F. A. Kuttner attacking our "Mass in
B Minor" conducted by Scherchen.
Considering . . . rhe preposterous pro-
cedure of reviewing a major work
such as this from a radio broadcast,
it seems to us here at Westminster
that we should have ... an oppor-
tunity to answer this letter, particu-
larly since David Randolph did not
have the time to do so. I think it is
deplorable to leave unanswered "musi-
cologist" Kuttner's diatribe, especially
since he seems so anxious to establish
his competence in matters of this kind.

I hope, therefore, that you will print
this letter wherein I quote below the
opinions of other musicologists and
critics in this country and, above all,
call to your attention the fact that this
particular recording received the Grand
Prix du Disque in Paris for 195 1. I
quote as follows:

New York Herald Tribune — December

"This is by far the finest recording of
this work available . . . Choral sing-
ing is remarkable . . exceptionally fine
work of the soloists . . . engineering
is first rate."

Cleveland Plain Dealer — December jojo:
". . . This recording will shine as a
star of first magnitude ... In every
Continued on page 20

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

BIG NEWS!

HERE'S AN AMPEX FOR YOU

This is the design triumph that high fidelity
enthusiasts everywhere have been awaiting. The
unmatched performance of an AMPEX is now
available to you in a recorder of modest size
and price.

And you can transfer it easily back and forth
between its portable case and its place in your
custom high fidelity installation. In either place
it can operate horizontally or vertically.

But every major component has been "life test-
ed" for an equivalent of more than 10 years
normal use. It's smaller and simpler, but it's all

AMPEX and still the best.

Full fidelity range, 30 to 15,000 cycles at only
7J4 in/sec.

Three separate magnetic heads (erase, record,
playback).

Meter for positive record and playback level
control.

Built-in mixer between line and microphone
inputs.

For full specifications on this exciting new AMPEX,
write today to Dept. f-l s»«.

I AMPEX

CORPORATION

SEE IT AT YOUR AMPEX DISTRIBUTOR

(listed in the "yellow pages" under " Hecording Equipment")

Redwood City, California

934 Charter Street

Distribution in principal cities;

Canadian distribution by Canadian General Electric Company

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Now, National — world's most respected maker of professional
radio receiving equipment — brings you a new concept in
high-fidelity!

For 40 years, National has designed and manufactured
extremely critical circuits for the armed forces (9 out of 10
Navy ships are equipped with National receivers), for the
world's largest airports, for communication services, industry,
radio amateurs and all those who demand optimum reception
even under the most adverse operating conditions.

Only this hard core of radio experience could produce the
New "Criterion" AM FM Tuner, the heart of National's new
HORIZON line in high fidelity!

On the entire line, National has lavished all the advanced
engineering techniques and latest research available.

The result is an integrated high-fidelity system so unique in
circuitry, so far ahead in performance and styling, it obsoletes
present equipment on the market today!

Look for the new HORIZON line at your high fidelity
headquarters this month! Meantime, write for complete
specifications to Dept. HF-654, National Co., Inc., Maiden, Mass.

HORIZON 20 m-W 'att Amplifier

Incorporates a revolutionary new National circuit featuring "unity coupling"

— first major improvement in amplifier design since the Williamson circuit! $84.50

HORIZON 5 Preamplifier-Control Unit

Lowest distortion (less than \ fo) at highest output (15 volts).
Distortion virtually un measurable at 1.5 volts output. Compensation for choice
of 7 recording characteristics. Unique bass and treble controls permit
compensation for speaker deficiencies and suppression of
turntable rumble without affecting middle range. $49.95

HORIZON 10 10-W att Amplifier

The National "unity-coupled" circuit — new amplifier standard —

in a 10-watt amplifier. Incorporates built-in preamplifier

and complete equalization and tone control networks. $79.95

HORIZON "Criterion" ,4A/-i?M Tuner

Simultaneous AM and FM reception with separate volume and tuning
controls for individual or binaural listening. Exclusive new Mutamatic
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stations come in out of velvety silence, stay locked in. $169.95 {less pre-amp.)

ationaN>

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Now for the first time
a Magnecorder

FINEST OF ALL HOME TAPE RECORDERS

For the man who has been waiting and hoping, here is the first
Magnecorder at a popular price. The purely professional
"utility" look is gone, yet the restyled MagneCordette still
delivers professional performance — the same quality which
has made Magnecord the accepted leader in tape recording the
world around.

The PT5-GAH MagneCordette is
mounted in a handy portable Case, with
high fidelity output for external ampli-
fier. Other models at slightly higher
cost include power output stage and
integral speaker. Your dealer is listed
under "Recorders" in the classified tele-
phone directory.

Continued from page 16

way this must be considered a defini-
tive recording . . . Westminster has
done an amazing job."
Irving Kolodin, Saturday Review of Liter-
ature — January 195 1:

"In a long period of listening to this
work ... I have not heard a perform-
ance of the imagination, integration
and subtlety of this one ... the warmth
and eloquence of the texture and the
felicity as sound are the dominant im-
pulses of Scherchen's exposition ... A
rare delight to hear choral singing of
the softness and timbre he evokes . . .
the whole sound is reproduced with
breadth and fidelity."
Time Magazine — February 1951:

"Here the monumental masterpiece
gets a deserving performance; orches-
tra, chorus and soloists are all excellent,
and so is the recording."
Nation — May 1951 (B. H. Haggin):

" . . . we get at last a good perform-
ance of Bach's 'B Minor Mass' . . .
In one important matter — tempo —
the performance is first rate."
Review of Recorded Music — March 1951:

"This mighty tonal monument . . .
receives a truly exceptional reading
with first-rate soloists and choral-or-
chestral forces . . . Every note and
phrase is treated with loving care, and
the details of the whole vast fabric
emerge with greater clarity and loveli-
ness than we ever heard before . . ."

Perhaps the above reviews are the
opinions of people with "unprofes-
sionally trained ears" and therefore will
not impress Mr. Kuttner. But in any
case, they evidently did not feel it
necessary to "rush off into the night
for a violent walk to cool off their dis-
pleasure with the performance."

The defense rests.

Henry L. Gage, Vice President
Westminster Recording Co., Inc.

Sir:

Has anyone written yet against the
idea of factory-sealed records? No?
Well, allow me. I buy my records from
a shop here in New York City that
allows me to take the records home
and listen to them before deciding
about purchase. Now, if Angel and
some of these other outfits are going
to factory-seal their disks, how in the
world will I know whether or not I
want to invest? I mean, it's all very

High Fidelity Magazine

'tjncfgn&corcf , inc.

225 WEST OHIO ST., DEPT. HF-6
CHICAGO 10, ILLINOIS

www.americanradiohistorv.com

^Listening Quality

The prime function of your hi-fi TONE ARM

The GRAY

viscous-damped 108 B

TONE ARM

Gray offers a radical departure in tone
arm design to assure the ultimate in
performance from new and old record-
ings . . . 33^, 45, and 78 RPM ... up
to 16" in diameter. The NEW suspen-
sion principle"damps"vertical and hori-
zontal movement of the ami . . . stops
groove jumping and skidding . . . pre-
vents damage if arm is dropped. Instant
cartridge change . . . Pickering, GE,
Fairchild . . . with automatic adjust-
ment to correct pressure.

Visit your nearest- High Fidelity dealer today
. . . examine the precision construction of Gray
Tone Arms . . . hear them reproduce perfect
Hi-Fi performance.

For TRUE reproduction of concert quality High
Fidelity music, depend on the Gray Tone Arm.
It gives you perfect compliance and tracking lor
all records . . . new or old ... at lowest stylus
pressure. Virtually eliminates tone arm reson-
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enthusiasts are achieving TRUE musical real-
ism with the Gray 108 B Tone Arm. Specifically
designed to meet the most exacting listening
demands.

Gray 106 SP
Transcription Arm

Chosen hy profes-
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record.

Gray 103 S
Transcription Arm
Leading audio engi-
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true tone reproduc-
tion. Specifically de-
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records.

RESEARCH

AND DEVELOPMENT CO. Inc.. Ililliurd Si,. Manchester. Conn.
Division or the CRAY MANUFACTURING COMPANY
OriKinutorit of the Gruy Telephone Puy Station and the
Gt-uy Audogruph und PhonAudograph .

GKAY RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CO., INC.
Hilliard Street, Manchester, Connecticut.

Please send me complete descriptive literature on
Gray Tone Arms.

Name

Address.
City

State-

June, 1954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

EVERY real.y

at your . ^

'ia *e J ^former, 2J

nianner. w-

national ~— h -

' . a chnD

k w your neighbor^od record shop w 0r &

oeaici

,0ry ° U , 0 Harrison Catalogs. 27A *W»
Write to nariiw' „

r. e New Y«k «. N- T - „,..,„ . The

Your Guide to
Hi Fi Record^

. , „_^rii made by

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

FIDELITY

OF SOUND

well to read the reviews in HIGH
Fidelity and other* such journals, but
the only way I can be sure I want to
buy a record is to hear it on my rig,
preferably running wide open. I got
the Haydn Society Don Giovanni prin-
cipally because of your favorable —
though definitely not rave — review.
I didn't like it. It just isn't sung very
well and let's face it. The things that
your reviewer found in its favor just
didn't seem to me very important in
relation to its drawbacks. So I took
it back and came home with some other
stuff — the Fritz Busch HMV Idome-
neo, among others. Very nice. I'll
keep it. But if the Don was available
only factory-sealed, I'd either never
buy it (and never know) or I'd get it
on the strength of reviews and be
permanently saddled with something
I don't care much for.

It's true that some people misuse
what I feel is a privilege — the chance
to listen to a record on your own sound
system before deciding. I see many
disks that are scratched in this shop I
mentioned. But it's up to you to
check the record carefully before walk-
ing out with it — and I believe it's up
to the shop to refuse to accept any
disk marred in any way** as a return.
If these rules are observed, I think it's
the finest way to buy records now
going — beating this factory-sealed
stuff all hollow. My fairly extensive
library has been purchased entirely at
this one store, all under this same sys-
tem. If records go entirely factory-
sealed, or if I don't have a chance to
audition them before buying, I'll call
my library complete and buy nothing
but guaranteed sure things.

And, as long as we're at it, has any-
one written yet against binaural sound?
Well, there's a lot to be said against
that, too. We could use some articles
on the "con" side of many of these
aspects of sound reproduction that
are put forth as gospel by the companies
involved.

John Savage
New York City

*What other such journals?
**If reader Savage can tell by its ap-
pearance when a record has been
subjected to a chisel-shaped "per-
manent" osmium stylus, he has bet-
ter vision by far than we do. — Ed.

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June, 1954

ii-ieMWianiiftiiifiiMTrflfiiaJiiiritriiiii—m

1 Buchanan, Michigan

It Export: 13 E. 40th St., New York 16, U.S.A. Cables: Arlab

AS THE EDITORS SEE IT

iSlNCE WE HAVE limitless faith in your ingenuity, we
pass on to you a problem that is currently bedeviling the
record business. It's akin to an earlier problem, which we
also passed on to you and which you seem to have done
good work on.

The first problem was when, if you recall, the makers
of mass-produced TV-radio-phonographs suddenly dis-
covered the high fidelity market, coveted it, and mar-
shalled their boldest advertising type-faces to acclaim their
version of high fidelity, usually as the only and of course,
ultimate one. Screams of terror rose from craftsman-type
manufacturers, from other folk of little faith. Industry
committees were set up, and the Government called in.

The committees are still at work, and there are rumblings
in the Government. But by and large, the furore has sub-
sided and everyone has gone back to work. Why?

For one quite simple reason: the people who knew what
high fidelity meant (you) went around, as embattled
word-of-mouth militiamen, and "talked it up." The
words high fidelity are still grossly misused, but it might
be said that the sting has gone.

We said then, and we say again: high fidelity is not
somethingthat can be so "specified" that a piece of equip-
ment positively is or is not hi-fi. The words are compara-
tive. That's what you have told your friends, neighbors,
anyone whose ear you could catch. And the result is that,
for example, one of the earliest and most blatant adver-
tisers seems to have lost his bold-face type ... or his ad-
vertising budget ... or something.

Now, will you please go out once more and tell everyone
that high fidelity, as you understand it and explain it, ap-
plies not only to equipment but to records as well? The
record-industry dilemma is not tough; it should give you
no trouble at all.

It seems that advertising and publicity men again have
been bandying our pair of precious but sometimes infuriat-
ing words. And now members of the Great Uninformed
Public are appearing at record counters and demanding,
simply and succinctly, "Two high fidelity records, please!"
You will find this hard to believe, but it is true. A specific
order of this sort has been reported by many record shops.
Somewhere, the notion has appeared among the G.U.P.
that one disk is hi-fi and another simply is not. They think
that high-fidelity recording appeared suddenly and unac-
countably, from nowhere, in 1954, like a Mexican volcano
or Mr. Porfirio Rubirosa.

Certainly many conscientious dealers will take the time
to explain; yet there are others who may not. Explaining
takes time, and a dealer's time is money.

Thus many dealers — and perhaps a good many mem-
bers of the G.U.P. who are not overly keen to exercise
their mental faculties — are going to welcome a new
phenomenon on the horizon: the list of hi-fi records.

June, 1954

Neil Harrison, publishers of the Trade Magazine Record
Retailing, has produced, for example, a 10-cent catalog
which purports to list all of the existing long-playing
records that are truly high-fidelity. Now, we know Mr.
Harrison personally; we know that he tried to be con-
scientious in preparing this booklet. We know that having
asked record companies for their recommendations and been
startled to discover how many companies never released any-
thing which was not hi-fi (by their own secret standards),
Mr. Harrison checked with reviewers and other people pres-
umably familiar with hi-fi- dom and edited his list accord-
ingly.

But it is still our opinion that, regardless of how con-
scientious a job anyone does, it is not possible to class
record releases categorically as high or low fidelity, simply
because no one is clear enough as to what it means. We
would like to think, with the innocent record-buying
neophyte, that the term high fidelity implied some magical
general excellence in a record but, as it is applied in fact,
it doesn't. Most often, it means merely that the maker
used high-grade modern equipment, capable of registering
a wide tonal and dynamic range.

We consider the use of such equipment mandatory, of
course, in making any recording (except a reprint) today,
but we also realize that almost everyone does use it, and
that, by itself, it isn't enough. As well as an Altec and
an Ampex (or their equivalents), making a good record-
ing requires brains, taste, experience, patience, some
knowledge of music and a flair for acoustics, a good musi-
cal performance, an excellent hall, time and money, a
great deal of work and plenty of luck. Indeed, Emory
Cook has pointed out to us that it takes considerable
aesthetic judgment even to make a good recording of a
locomotive or a village church-bell, and we believe him.
Primarily, we don't want any potential listening-converts
disappointed and driven away by the delusive "hi-fi" lure.

Secondarily, we cannot quite get away from the question
of a record's content. Take Aaron Copland's beguiling
Appalachian Spring. Of this, three recordings are avail-
able. Two, in fairly estimable fi, are played by European
conductors, to whom it has obviously never occurred
that there exists an American musical idiom worth atten-
tion (one of them can't even be bothered with tempo
markings). Their performances can be charitably described
as inadequate. The third recording was reprinted from one
of the last and best U. S. 78 rpm issues. The conductor is
the late Serge Koussevitzky, who loved and understood the
work. It incorporates no treble above (about) 8,000 cps:
below that it is beautifully clear and balanced. — Suppose,
now, a new recruit has asked your advice on an Appalachian
Spring, with the inevitable final words: ". . . so long as
it's hi-fi."

What do you tell him?

www.americanradiohistorv.com

by Roland Gelatt

The talking machine becomes the VICTOR

In which an unwary Inventor almost loses the right to use his own
invention; a Mechanic shows an unsuspected flair for Business, and
a World-famous trade name is conjured out of thin New Jersey air.

HREE YEARS after its commercial debut, Emile Ber-
liner's gramophone — the talking machine that played flat
disks — was already well on its way to becoming an Ameri-
can institution. It had been launched in 1895 under the
aegis of a wily New York promoter named Frank Seaman,
whose National Gramophone Company served as exclusive
U. S. selling agent for the products manufactured jointly
by the Berliner Gramophone Company, of Philadelphia,
and Eldridge R. Johnson, of Camden. He was a mer-
chandiser of great talent, and by 1898 his efforts had
brought the gramophone to a point where it threatened to
dislodge the older and well-entrenched wax cylinder ap-
paratus.

Was it possible that the Columbia Graphophone would
lose its hegemony in the American market? The manu-
facturers of this popular cylinder phonograph were de-
termined that it should not. They let fly a salvo of ad-
vertisements traducing the gramophone and extolling their
own product. Frank Seaman replied in kind, with a bar-
rage of ads which aspersed the wax cylinder's capabilities
and emphasized "the true tone quality" of the Improved
Gramophone. But this bickering in print was only a por-
tent of more serious eruptions to come. For the warfare
between cylinder and disk soon graduated from the copy-
writer's pen to the lawyer's briefcase. It was a litigious in-
dustry to begin with, and the American Graphophone
Company especially had the reputation of rushing into
court at the slightest provocation. Indeed, many people
held that the chief asset of the prosperous Columbia-
Graphophone organization lay in the person of Philip
Mauro, a shrewd, 40-year-old Washingtonian who as
principal legal counsel for the Graphophone had defended
the Bell-Tainter patents for all, or perhaps more than, they
were worth. In 1898 he turned his attention to this new
form of competition which was beginning to threaten
the Graphophone even more than the arch-enemy Edison.
Mauro subjected Berliner's patents to the most painstak-
ing legal scrutiny. Superficially, the Berliner disk patents
and the Bell-Tainter cylinder patents were miles apart,
both in concept and in execution. But was there not some
point of friction, some obscure but vital transgression for
which the menacing gramophone could be called to ac-

count in court? Mauro burrowed deeply and emerged with
one of his typically ingenious stratagems. It hinged on a
mainstay of the original Graphophone patent, the provi-
sion for the so-called "floating stylus," which had been
one of Bell and Tainter's chief improvements over the
Edison tin-foil phonograph. As Mauro played a gramo-
phone and observed how its soundbox was propelled by
the grooves of a record, it suddenly occurred to him that
the gramophone's stylus could be said to "float" also. If
this could be proved, then the gramophone patent most
certainly invaded the Bell-Tainter domain.

Mauro went to court, but he sued neither the patent-
holding United States Gramophone Company nor the
manufacturing Berliner Gramophone Company. Instead,
he directed his attack against the National Gramophone
Company and Frank Seaman personally. On October
22, 1898, as counsel for the American Graphophone Com-
pany, he entered suit in the U. S. Circuit Court for the
Southern District of New York, demanding that the de-
fendants be enjoined from the further sale of talking
machines employing a floating soundbox.

In leveling his blow against Seaman the Graphophone
lawyer was functioning at his Machiavellian best. Seaman
and the Berliner group had been getting on very badly.

Recording studio, circa 1890. This one was in Philadelphia.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

The flaws in the tripartite division of the gramophone
business had grown increasingly evident. Too many
people were cutting a slice out of the profits, and Seaman
argued that National Gramophone's slice was too slim.
In reply, the Berliner group blithely took the position
that Seaman had signed a contract in good faith and
should live up to its terms.

That was far from the last word on the matter, as the
Berliner people were to learn to their dismay. An entre-
preneur as self-assured and knowledgeable as Frank Sea-
man, who was accustomed to picking his way through
the involutions of business practice and relished the
rough-and-tumble of the marketplace, was not likely to
take no for an answer, especially when it came from
men who were relative amateurs in the
world of commerce. But for a time he was
preoccupied with fighting the American
Graphophone Company. Philip Mauro's
subtle, persuasive bill of complaint had
convinced Judge Lacombe of the Circuit
Court in New York. In November, de-
livering an opinion that the gramophone
infringed a fundamental patent of the
American Graphophone Company, he
granted a temporary restraining order
against Seaman to go into effect on Janu-
ary 25, 1899. Seaman appealed Lacombe's
decision without delay, and two months
later the Court of Appeals set aside the
preliminary injunction so as to permit the
whole case to be heard in greater detail. A
full-scale legal battle impended; mean-
while, business could be carried on as usual.

If one considers Seaman's position in the spring of
1 899 from his own vantage point, his subsequent actions
become more understandable. Largely through his own
merchandising genius he had built up the gramophone
business in three years to a thriving million-dollar industry.
Nevertheless, he was entirely dependent on the Berliner
Gramophone Company for his source of supply and was
obliged to purchase merchandise at what he considered
an inflated price. So long as Berliner controlled the gramo-
phone patents, Seaman's hands were tied. But the basic
validity of those patents was being questioned, and if the
gramophone patents were indeed to be disallowed by
the courts, what need was there to deal any longer with
the Berliner group or to suffer any further from their in-
hibiting monopoly?

In March 1899, Seaman transformed the National
Gramophone Company, of New York, into the National
Gramophone Corporation, of Yonkers, raising the capital-
ization from $200,000 to $800,000. He assumed the
office of treasurer; Frank J. Dunham was president and
Orville D. LaDow secretary. Next, a subsidiary called
the Universal Talking Machine Company was organized,
with the same Orville D. LaDow as president. Under
the supervision of a mechanic named DeValque, Universal
set up a factory in New York City for the manufacture of
gramophones. In mid-summer the Phonoscope reported
that "they are rushing machines through for the fall

Eldridge Johuson, pictured in 1900

business and expect to be able to commence deliveries
about September 15th."

While these machinations were in progress, Seaman
continued to do business in Berliner gramophones from
his old offices at Broadway and Eighteenth Street. Through-
out 1899 he carried on the same barrage of advertisements
proclaiming the virtues of the Improved Gramophone.
That year Seaman opened branch offices in Boston, Chi-
cago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Providence.
Business was better than ever; the Berliner assembling
plant in Philadelphia and the Johnson shop in Camden
were hard put to keep pace with the orders. Indeed,
the gramophone had proved such a profitable venture
that Johnson was erecting a new four-story factory in
Camden to take care of the ever increas-
ing orders.

Suddenly, in October 1899, the orders
from Seaman stopped. The blow could
not have been unsuspected in Philadelphia.
Had not the Phonoscope given advance
notice that the Universal Talking Machine
Company was in production and would
begin deliveries in mid -September? It
seems that the Berliner Company had
neglected to foresee the consequences of
this activity. While its business came to
an abrupt and unwelcome halt, Seaman —
livelier than ever — began advertising his
new machine, which he called the Zono-
phone. It was a heavier instrument than
the Improved Gramophone (its designer
put more emphasis on gingerbread decora-
tion than Johnson did), and the spring
motor was enclosed within the case instead of being
mounted at the rear. These were minor deviations; essen-
tially, the Zonophone was an imitation gramophone.
But this fact did not deter Seaman from advertising in
bold letters that the "Zonophone is substituted for the
Gramophone, which is abandoned, including its name."
Curiously enough, the National Gramophone Corporation,
which sold the Zonophone, left its name intact.

Seaman had not yet done his worst to the dazed and
incredulous Berliner people. The coup de grace was to come
in the courts. Since January 1899 the American Grapho-
phone Company had been threatening Seaman's very exis-
tence with its suit over the validity of the Berliner patents.
Now that Seaman had deserted Berliner there was no
longer need to contest the action. He threw in the sponge
and on May 5, 1900, accepted an injunction by consent:
Seaman admitted in court that his erstwhile opponents
were in the right, that the gramophone patents did in-
fringe the "floating stylus" principle. Two weeks later
came the announcement that an important alliance for
legal protection and commercial advantage had been con-
summated between the National Gramophone Corpora-
tion and Universal Talking Machine Company on the
the one hand and American Graphophone Company
and Columbia Phonograph Company on the other; thence-
forth the Zonophone would be manufactured and sold
under the protection of the joint patents of all parties to

JlINF, 1954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

the agreement, exclusive rights to its manufacture having
been granted by the American Graphophone Company.
The announcement further claimed that without the
patent rights controlled by the parties to the agreement,
no disk talking machine could be legally marketed in the
United States. The claim was justified; by June 25, Sea-
man had gotten the court to issue an injunction against
the Berliner Gramophone Company restraining it from
further dealings in gramophone merchandise.

The redoubtable Frank Seaman had not only with-
drawn his business from the Berliner Company and com-
menced manufacture of a competing instrument, but had
also made it legally impossible for the Berliner people
to sell their own merchandise. Down in Washington
the gramophone's inventor, Emile Berliner, thundered
with indignation at the turn of events. The patent-hold-
ing United States Gramophone Company took advertis-
ing space to tell its side of the story: '"We own the Letters
Patent for the Gramophone and its Indestructible Record
Discs. These patents have never been attacked, nor have
Gramophones and Records made under them ever been
declared infringements, except through judgments con-
fessed by a former agent of the Gramophone; such judg-
ments have no legal value. The Gramophone patents
cover all Talking Machines in which the record groove
propels the stylus, and in which hard-pressed discs are used."

But fume as Berliner would, his patents were commer-
cially worthless so long as the injunction was on the books.
In league with stockholders of the Berliner Gramophone
Company, he instituted lawsuits against the Universal
Talking Machine Company, National Gramophone Cor-
poration, and Frank Seaman personally, for infringe-
ments of patents, damages, and an accounting. Berliner

Original office of the Victor Company. Man at left (standing) is
Eugene Haines, recently retired treasurer of RCA Victor.

and the Philadelphia stockholders could afford to wait
until the matter was adjudicated; none of them was de-
pendent on the gramophone for a livelihood. But for
Eldridge Johnson the situation was infinitely more pre-
carious. Not only had he just completed a large factory
for manufacturing gramophones, but he found himself
with $50,000 worth of unpaid-for merchandise which the
Berliner Company had ordered before the Seaman debacle.
Johnson had put every penny he owned into the gramo-
phone business; if he was to stave off bankruptcy, he had
to start selling gramophones himself.

For some time, Johnson had been keeping a trump up
his sleeve. Like any listener with critical ears, he had
been dissatisfied with the gramophone's quality of tone
and powers of articulation. At first he had thought the
fault lay in the soundbox, but though he developed an
improvement over the original Berliner soundbox the
trouble was only partly ameliorated. He decided in due
course that the poor tonal quality inhered more in the rec-
ords than in the reproducing apparatus, and in 1897 he
began making secret experiments in the art of recording,
employing a process that combined the wax engraving
method of Bell-Tainter with the lateral-cut disk of Berliner.
Berliner himself had always shied clear of wax. He felt
that the wax recording medium clearly pertained to the
Bell-Tainter patents; besides, he believed that his method
of recording on zinc plates was every bit as good. John-
son did not agree; he had examined Berliner's master
records under the microscope and had seen the jagged
acid-etched grooves which were largely responsible for
the gramophone's raucous, scratchy sound. Altogether,
two years of slow progress were to elapse before Johnson
could develop a satisfactory method of converting an
original wax recording into a reverse metal stamper. It
was time well spent. When Johnson heard the brighter,
smoother sound of his wax-recorded pressings he knew
that — whether it trespassed other patents or not — it
was the only satisfactory way of making gramophone
records.

Faced with the problem of breaking into the gramo-
phone business single-handed, Johnson decided to play
the trump he had been hiding. He set up his own busi-
ness, the Consolidated Talking Machine Company, and
hired Leon F. Douglass, a high-strung promoter with 10
years experience in the talking machine business, to sell
the goods. Douglass proposed to splurge half of John-
son's $5,000 capital on advertising. Though it was a great
gamble, the campaign Douglass envisioned was full of
promise, and Johnson gave his assent. He was always to
be a fanatical believer in advertising. In the fall of 1900,
Consolidated's advertisements appeared in the large na-
tional magazines. "Gramophone Records FREE," the
headline of one read, and then in smaller print: "A Marve-
lous Discovery has just been made in our Laboratory in
the art of making records. The results are so startling and
the improvements so great that we have decided to give
every owner of a Gramophone one of these new records
free. Send us the number of your Gramophone and we
will send you by return mail a record that will surprise
and please you." Continued on page 82

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Summer Musk in the Americas -f 954

indigenous, calculated to keep the home folks amused
and the local musicians eating rather than to attract visi-
tors from the ends of the gold-bearing earth.

Without question, the best place to go in the summer
for serious music expertly performed — assuming that
you either don't want to or can't go to Europe — is South
America. The reason is simple: Summer here is winter
there. This may not seem good-neighborly, but it cannot
be helped. Geography.

At any rate, the principal cities of South America main-
tain symphony orchestras of excellent quality, and their
recital halls are booked solid during the summer by the
best European and North and South American artists.
The seasons in Brazil and Argentina are especially active,
and Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and Sao Paulo have
opera seasons in which the productions are both lavish
and carefully prepared and the singers and conductors of
international stature. But these are no more festivals than
are the corresponding winter seasons in New York, Chi-
cago or Boston, and they cannot be treated as such. If
you are going to South America this summer and are
interested in music, the best procedure is to get in touch
with the cultural attaches of the countries you plan to
visit and ask for details. And, especially for the major
opera seasons, request seats as far in advance as possible.

No festivals in this country have the size of the really
big European agglomerations, and certainly none has the
air of tradition. Even if, say, New York were to have a
festival similar to that of, say, Vienna, the effect could
not be the same, for historic associations have a good
deal to do with the successful creation of a festival at-
mosphere. Where is there an American counterpart for the
Schoenbrunn Palace — or for the Drottningholm Palace
at Stockholm, for that matter? What possible American
counterpart is there for Bayreuth?

In general, music festivals that are called festivals in this
country are connected with either educational institutions
(like that at Ann Arbor) or orchestras (like that at Ravinia)
or both (like that at Tanglewood). There are exceptions,
but this is the rule, and for the rest the summer traveler
in the United States must rely for live musical performances
on municipally sponsored, or condoned, concert series
that have the advantage of open-air informality if not of
the opportunity to commune with the ghosts of great
composers or bask in the aura of eighteenth-century
court life.

The following paragraphs constitute an outline, ar-
ranged in rough chronology according to opening dates,
of the principal festivals and concert series scheduled still
to take place this summer north of the Panama Canal and
on this side of the Atlantic, with an occasional flyer into
non-musical events of related interest. Certain spring
and early summer events will be in progress or already
finished by printing time. Among these: the Ann Arbor
festival (April 29-May 2); the Festival of American Music
(Eastman School) in Rochester, N. Y., the first week in
May; the Bethlehem (Pa.) Bach Festival, May 13-22;
the Southeastern Manitoba Music Festival, May 15; the
Kings County (Nova Scotia) Music Festival, May 18;
the Ojai Festivals, Ojai, Calif., which began May 20.

St. Louis Municipal Opera (St. Louis, Mo.) June to
September.

Open-air light-opera performances in Forest Park.

New Orleans Summer Pops (New Orleans, La.) June
and July.

Three free orchestral concerts weekly in Beauregard Square.

Music Under The Stars (Milwaukee, Wis.) June to
August

County-sponsored orchestral concerts in the Emil Blatz
Temple of Music; guest conductors and soloists.

Tamiment Festival (Tamiment Institute, Tamiment, Pa.)
June 24-27.

Chamber-music concerts by the Curtis String Quartet,
including the premiere of the prize-winning work in a
contest now being judged; other concerts and recitals on
Thursday evenings all summer long.

Naumburg Concerts (The Mall, Central Park, New
York, N. Y.) Opening concert was May 30; other
dates to be announced.

Four free orchestral concerts sponsored by the Walter W.

Naumburg Foundation.

Ashland Folk Song Festival (Ashland, Ky.) June 13.
Folk-singing.

Goldman Band Concerts (The Mall, Central Park, New
York, N. Y., and Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N. Y.)
June 18.

Free concerts of band music throughout the summer —
on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in Cen-
tral Park; on Thursdays and Saturdays in Prospect Park.

Lewisohn Stadium Concerts (New York, N. Y.) June
21-July 31.

Concerts five nights a week by an orchestra composed
largely of New York Philharmonic-Symphony players.
Conductors: Pierre Monteux, Alexander Smallens, Sir
Adrian Boult, Andre Kostelanetz, Thomas Scherman.
Soloists include: Lily Pons, Eugene Conley, Dorothy
Kirsten, Charles Kullman, Herva Nelli, Elena Nikolaidi,
Jarmila Novotna, Jan Peerce, Regina Resnik, Hugh
Thompson, William Warfield, Mischa Elman, Yehudi
Menuhin, Jeanne Mitchell, Michael Rosenker (concert-
master), Claudio Arrau, Henri Deering, Ania Dorfmann,
and Aldo Parisot. Special events include a Kern and
Rodgers and Hammerstein program, Italian and French
opera programs, a Viennese program, and a program by
Jose Greco and his company of Spanish dancers.

Robin Hood Dell (Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pa.)

June 21 to end of July.
Free concerts, sponsored municipally and by businesses,
by an orchestra composed largely of Philadelphia Orches-
tra players, with soloists; programs generally follow the
pattern of those offered in Lewisohn Stadium.

Continued on page 80

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Raise Your Own Audiophiles

b y THOMAS I. LUCCI

The author accompanied his manuscript and pictures with a
note of apology for sounding like a fond father. After reading
his article, the editors cogitated and then rejected his apology.

'EING THE type of person who believes that parents
should share experiences with their children, I stretched
myself on our luxurious foam rubber mattress last Sunday
to help my three-year-old, Tom, take his afternoon nap.

"Hey, Dad, tell me a story about when you were a little
boy and I was your Daddy."

This was a switch. Usually, Tom asked for one of my
old war horses, "Tommy and his Terrible Temper" or
"Tommy and Downtown." I was tempted to pretend that
I was already asleep, but the story was too much of a
challenge.

"Well, I'll tell you, Tom. When I was a little boy,
I used to . . . uh . . . uh." Stymied already. I felt sure that
I must have done something to pass the time when I was
Tom's age, but what? Backed to the wall, I attempted
the negative approach. "Well, when I was a little boy,
we didn't have television . . ."

"I'm sorry, Dad, I forgot to buy you one."

". . . We didn't have automobiles. We didn't have
radios or record players. I must've done something, but
I can't recall what. Let me think about it for awhile."

"OK, Dad. I'm sorry I forgot to buy you a record
player."

Unfortunately, I dropped off to sleep thinking, and
never did figure out what I could have done as a three-
year-old. I have been vaguely troubled about this ever

Tinkering session: Tom, Jr., Tom, Sr., and 4$-rpm record player.

since and, as a result, feel compelled to chronicle some
of Tom's activities, so that in later years he will have
prepared notes from which to answer his children's re-
quests for stories.

If I had been a frustrated actor instead of a lonely
music lover, I suspect that Tom would have cut his teeth
on Shakespeare instead of Beethoven. However, Beetho-
ven it was, and he took to Ludwig as most children take
to an indulgent grandparent.

At 16 months, he became enchanted with Beethoven's
Fifth Symphony, which was promptly renamed the "boom,
boom" record. Delighted at the sight of Tom waving his
pudgy arms in unison with the tremendous bass passages,
I was quick to accede to his frequent requests to hear the
"boom, boom" record. Luckily, Tom transferred his affec-
tions to the Poet and Peasant Overture before the grooves
on the Beethoven record were worn quite through to the
other side. The Poet and Peasant now became the "boom,
boom." To Tom, it was even more exciting than Beetho-
ven's Fifth, for not only was there power and drive, but
also the delightful new element of suspense. Tom would go
about his business during the introductory passages. At
the last instant, he would drop whatever he was doing,
yell "Here it comes!", dash wildly to the loudspeaker,
arriving just in time to help the conductor bring in the
first fortissimo.

For a few months, it was almost impossible for. me to
play any record other than the Poet and Peasant without
his crying "That's not the boom, boom." In time, how-
ever, I was able to slip in other records without comment.

Just after his second birthday, he began pulling record
jackets out of the cabinet and asking me the name of the
composition, the composer and the orchestra conductor.
When, a few days later, he would root through the 30 or so
LP jackets, pull out the same record and give me the data
verbatim, I was still not too impressed, because children
do parrot. However, when I'd stack the records on the
turntable without his knowledge and he would then call
off "Tchaikovsky's 18 Overture!" (sic), "Rienzi Overture!"
or "Faust Ballet!" almost the instant the stylus hit the
first groove, I was impressed. Also, the way he began
pronouncing words like Tchaikovsky, Ponchielli, Von
Suppe, Gounod and Mitropoulos — at two years — was
unbelievable.

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Unfortunately some of our friends could not resist break-
ing into laughter at hearing a two-year-old seriously state
that his Dad's newest record was Scheherezade by Rimsky-
Korsakoff. Once he saw the comic possibilities, Tom
started making up his own improvisations — things like
"The Fobby Overture by Jack "Fatso" Sterling." To
compound the injury, he would then ask me what Fobby
meant. I would solemnly look it up in the dictionary and
report that there was no such word.

Child psychologists say you should never brush aside
a child's question.

At 22 months, Tom became a big brother and simul-
taneously, the proud owner of a minature console phono-
graph. I spent some long, cold hours in the garage, build-
ing the latter, utilizing a box full of spare amplifier parts
and a 45 rpm turntable that had been a terrific bargain
at $1.98. I had often heard that the first child was apt
to be jealous of a new sibling. The phonograph was sup-
posed to give Tom a sense of independence, keep him
from missing some of the parental attention that would
have to be diverted to the newcomer. I realized that I
might be indulging in wishful thinking. I would feel silly
if the phonograph remained neglected in a corner of the
room while my wife wondered where in the world we could
keep the bathinette.

Great fellow that he is, Tom loved his sister and his
phonograph the moment he saw them. He has loved
both since. He justified my hopes by learning to handle
the phonograph controls in a matter of minutes. Ap-
parently, it has made him independent, too — a request to
hear a particular record on his phonograph is a positive in-
surance against hearing it again.

We were building Tom a fine library of classics when
a well-meaning relative gave him an album of Daffy Duck.
It took three days to get to the last side of the last record.
Tom played each side over until he had memorized every
word every sound. I could have been disappointed at
his change of interest, but I was running short of story
material at the time and the children's records gave me
a chance to rest and restock. Still, with Tom in the dinette
playing Daffy Duck on his phonograph, and me in the
living room playing Brahms, my wife spent some uneasy
moments housekeeping under the cross-fire. But she for-
gave us because, Peter Rabbit or Peter Tchaikovsky, she
could always count on approximately an hour a day dur-
ing which Tom would sit in front of his phonograph happily
spinning records, while his young sister hovered at the
edge of her play-pen, vigilantly waiting for Tom absent-
mindedly to make the mistake of placing a record where
she could grab it and take a quick bite. To anyone who
has had two such lively youngsters around the house, it
need hardly be explained why the record-spinning hour
is so welcomed by my wife.

As Tom's sister, Lorraine, grew older, I watched her for
signs of musical appreciation. Once her legs supported
her, she followed Tom around like a little puppy, mimick-
ing everything he did and seeing how far she could push
him before his good nature gave way. By the time she was
11 months old, she was wild about Pee Wee Hunt's
recording of "San," and persistently and unsuccessfully

tried to fit it over the thick spindle on Tom's turntable.

When she was 14 months old, I received a copy of Capi-
tol's "Study in High Fidelity." Both children went into
ecstasy over the bands containing the percussion instru-
ments. At their instigation, I began the custom of playing
the two percussion bands every evening before their bed-
time. My wife had some doubts about the soporific value
of clashing cymbals and solidly whacked drums, but I
enjoyed watching the little girl's eyes open wide when the
tympani were pounded. After a few sessions, Tom could
name the percussion instruments as they sounded off,
and would raise the roof if I miscued and did not get all
the glockenspiel at the beginning of the band. A couple
of months later, Lorraine could identify and say "drums"
and "blocks". At 16 months, she is now big enough to
put up a battle for her favorites at the turntable, and I
am beginning to wonder if my wife will have to put up
with three record players.

We lost Tom for a while. I do not know what planet he
was living in, but it was not ours. Conversations were
confined to reporting his activities to Jack Sterling and
Howdy Doody on TV, or boisterous, one-sided conversa-
tions with his Teddy Bear. Some of the snatches of con-
versations I heard were astounding. It is quite a shock
to hear your three-year-old suddenly say, "You know, a
funny thing happened to me today. I was walking down
the street, on my way to the studio . . ." or "I'm just a weak,
tired little boy and my daddy is going to buy me Jeritol
Junior so that my body will grow strong and energetic."

Lately, though, there have been indications that Tom
will come out of his dream world of Peter Rabbit and TV
commercials. One night, I brought home the new Bruno
Walter recording of Mozart's Symphonies No. 35 and 40.
After dinner, I put the record on the turntable and flopped
down on the sofa. Tom was in his newly-adopted relaxing
position, which necessitates standing on his head in the
wing chair, with his head on the seat pillow and his feet
draped over the wings. Maybe the position improves the
hearing, I do not know. After a few minutes, Tom came
off the chair suddenly without any fractures, shoved his
forefinger in my face and, with the serious look that only
a three-year-old can attain, stated: "You know, Dad,
Mozart wrote 41 symphonies of which this is one. Mozart
also wrote piano concertos and music for people to sing
which is called an opera. When he was a little boy, he
played the harpsichord which is an instrument like a piano."

I had not heard his little record of the life of Mozart
for some time, so I was not sure that he had the facts
right, but since the last communique I had received from
him was a 60-second commercial extolling the virtues of
Alka-Seltzer, I was quick to grab him and give him a
squeeze. Bless his heart. I was ready to run out and buy
every symphony Mozart had written, all 41 of them. Well,
maybe not all at once . . .

But it is wonderful to have Tom back in my part-time
world of music. Yesterday, he came to ask me, with a
fine show of pathos: "Dad, would you build me a big
record player like yours, so I can play big records with
little holes? I'm a big fellow now, and I need a big record
player." So, you see, it is time I put Continued on page 83

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

ADVENTURERS IN Cumf

The Doodletown Fifers

h Y JOHN S. WILSON

SAUTER

FINEGAN

_T WAS just two years ago that the indefatigable
purchasers of "pop" records, accustomed as they are to
hearing nerve-jangling shrieks, cracks and groans emanate
from their disks, were put to the sonic test by a record
which emitted such a variety of grunts and peeps as to
startle even a sated cacophoniac. However, it did not take
discriminating listeners among them long to discover that
there was an unwonted amount of musical merit in this
particular assemblage of sounds and, if the record hap-
pened to be played on equipment capable of reasonably
high fidelity, much felicity and grace in their use.

The disk in question was Doodletown Fifers. It featured
a new group led by a pair of highly reputed arrangers,
Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan, and called with cumber-
some specificness the Sauter- Finegan orchestra. It heralded
the appearance of a band which is unique in many respects.
Among them:

— It is the first band whose existence has been made
possible by the widespread use of high fidelity equipment.

— It is the first, and probably only, binaural dance band.

— It has raised an interested audience for such offbeat
instruments as the toy trumpet, the keyboard glockenspiel
and the beaten human chest.

The factors which have particularly distinguished the
Sauter-Finegan band are its exploitation of the extremes of
sound range and the application of taste and imagination
to the attack used in reaching those extremes. "The only
place we come off to advantage is on a hi-fi machine,"
Sauter remarked recently. "The spread of hi-fi sets has
been a big asset to us because even a bad hi-fi set will help
us. We sound awful on a juke box. That's one of the
reasons we haven't gotten into the hit record category."

The band has been carefully constructed beyond the
usual brass-reeds-and-rhythm with which juke boxes are
expected to cope. To get high highs without screaming
brass — a sound which jars both Sauter and Finegan —
the traditional brass section has been juiced up with a
variety of supports. Piccolos are brought in on top of the
brass. A xylophone is kept handy to add spit to the brass
when spit is called for. And to give it a further ring, there
is a keyboard glockenspiel, an instrument which intrigued

Finegan when he first heard it four years ago in Paris.
Finally, for those moments when brass, piccolos, xylo-
phone and glockenspiel are all approaching a momentous
crescendo, there is a big street bass drum to provide
added whang.

Implementing the bottom of the scale is somewhat
simpler. Most dance bands use a baritone saxophone to
provide bottom but Sauter and Finegan feel that the
baritone doesn't have wide enough overtones for their
purposes. So, in addition to a baritone, they have in-
cluded a tuba.

The potency of their reinforced bottom was proved
beyond question at a Sauter-Finegan recording date at
Manhattan Center when, with all of the band's lows
brought in on the strongest register, the percussionist
further intensified the already intense lowness by walloping
a 36-inch gong. The concussion was so great that the
settled dust of many decades erupted from the ceiling
and the percussionist's trousers vibrated wildly.

The band is currently made up of 19 men: three trum-
pets, three trombones (including bass trombone), five
woodwinds (doubling on saxophones, flute, oboe, piccolo
and English horn), harp, piano (doubling on celesta and
keyboard glockenspiel), guitar, string bass, drums and two
percussionists attending to chimes, cymbals, marimba,
xylophone, tympani, parade drum, street bass drum, or-
chestra bells, gong, tambourine, sleigh bells, slapstick,
triangle and bongo.

Not satisfied with this collection, the two leaders oc-
casionally use a variety of odd instruments including toy
trumpet, kazoo, recorder, elephant bells and water glasses
when they feel that they fit the music. They resent the im-
plication that they are putting themselves into competi-
tion with Spike Jones when they resort to these instru-
ments. "If you get a new sound through a water glass or
a kazoo," Sauter says, "it allows you to have a different
organization of sound. It doesn't necessarily lead to a
Spike Jones thing in which the sound is simply exploited
for itself. A water glass, for instance, allows us to have a
different kind of attack than we could have without the
water glass."

June, 1954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

"And if we use a kazoo, there are serious ideas behind
its use," Finegan adds. "Whatever humor there may be
in the use of the instrument is secondary. Publicity people
are apt to take a cute approach to the kazoo and the rest
of the less usual instruments and we don't like it."

Sauter has a particular fondness for the toy trumpet,
an instrument on which lie rates as a virtuoso. He feels
that it has a pixilated sound and whenever he finds himself
arranging a number which strikes him as pixilated he can
rarely resist writing in a toy trumpet solo. One of the
more choice visual moments in a Sauter- Finegan perform-
ance occurs just before one of Sauter's solo flights on the
toy trumpet. He keeps a half dozen of them lined up on a
rack. As his solo approaches, he assumes the demeanor of
a swordsman choosing his weapon as he tests one trumpet
after another to pick the one he'll use.

"There's always a bad note on one of them," he com-
plains.

Finegan's principal appearance as a creative soloist so
far has been in a rhythmic adaptation of the Troika from
Prokofieff's Lieutenant Kije Suite called, in this new form,
Midnight Sleighride. The arrangement calls for the sound
of horse's hoofs on hard-packed snow. Gourds, the cus-
tomary instrument for hoof effects, were not considered
appropriate because they lacked the snow feeling. Finegan
produced the proper substitute when he recalled that he
once played the offstage hoofbeats of George Washing-
ton's horse in a high school play by thumping his chest
in front of a microphone. He is the only orchestra leader,
on record, whose instrument is the beaten chest.

Despite these ventures as soloists, both Sauter and
Finegan have the essentially introverted personalities of
men who are accustomed to working behind the scenes.
When they determined to form a band, it was not their
intention to attach either of their names to it. They wanted
an impersonal name, like the Casa Loma band. But, with
the deadline for printing the labels on their first release
approaching, they had considered several hundred imper-
sonal names without finding anything they liked. The
band had to be called something so, in desperation, they
used both their names.

Reinforced brass section. It brought down the dust with a gong.

Nor had they considered leading the band. AH they
wanted to do was write the kind of music they liked and
to have an orchestra available which was capable of play-
ing it. Once their names had been committed to the band,
however, they found that they were expected to be in
front of it when the band made a public appearance.
And, as a practical matter, they learned from experience
that one of them had to be with the band if the music was
to be played as they wanted it.

Their earlier careers were devoted to the more sheltered
fields of arranging and composing for dance bands, a
business in which they achieved stature with the select
few. Sauter first drew wide attention with the delicately
provocative writing he did for Red Norvo and Mildred
Bailey in the late 1930s, some of which can be heard on
Columbia cl 6094, A Mildred Bailey Serenade. In the early
1940s he was turning out arrangements for Benny Good-
man which, by dint of ingenuity and resourcefulness,
managed to be both commercial and unhackneyed, (vide
Benny Goodman Presents Eddie Sauter Arrangements, Colum-
bia cl 523) and immediately after World War II he pro-
vided much of the material for a band headed by Ray
McKinley which was beloved by musicians but neglected
by the paying public (Allegro 4015, Sauter and Others, has
some of it).

Finegan, several years younger than Sauter, was known
principally for his arrangements for two of the nation's
top band leaders, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey, for
both of whom he worked for many years. There is a fore-
taste of things to come in some of Finegan's work for
Dorsey, especially such a number as Pussy Willow (Victor
47-2958) in which there is a suggestion of the attack
characteristic of his present writing for his own band.

The germ of the Sauter- Finegan orchestra was planted
in 1950 when both of these highly regarded dance band
arrangers seemed to have reached the end of the road in
that field Sauter because he was flat on his back in a
sanitarium, Finegan because he had turned his back on
his past and had gone to Paris to study. Hearing of Sauter's
illness, Finegan wrote him a letter which he hoped would
cheer him up. He lamented the sad state to which arrang-
ing had fallen ("It was all vocalists," he explained recently,
"and if you wrote anything good you probably wouldn't
get any work again.") He discussed the elements that he
would like to see developed by a really interesting band.

Sauter's spirits rose to this bait. He wrote back in
vigorous agreement and added ideas of his own. The
correspondence and, later, conversations grew more specific,
and, after two years of writing and talking, they decided
that the only way they could write the kind of things
that interested them was to form their own band.

With little more than their reputations to recom-
mend them, they approached Dave Kapp, then head of
popular artists and repertoire at RCA Victor, about mak-
ing some records. They had nothing written and had
only a skeleton plan of what they wanted to do, but they
won Kapp's interest.

With the go-ahead for a recording session secured, Sauter
and Finegan started writing some numbers that would
exploit their ideas. They rounded up a group of top studio

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

musicians to play them. Freddie Elsasser, a veteran en-
gineer in Victor's pop department, was alerted for the
session.

"Finegan called me up and told me what they wanted,"
Elsasser has recalled. "I'd been told about this new band
so I was somewhat prepared, but I've heard so many
musicians tell me how they want things done, and then
found that what they really wanted was more or less the
regular run of things, that I didn't expect too much."

The musicians who played that first session hadn't seen
the arrangements before they reached the studio and had
no idea of the kind of thing they were going to play.
Sauter and Finegan rehearsed them for more than an hour
before they started taping and Elsasser took advantage
of the rehearsal time to set up. His initial setup is the
one that has been used ever since (Elsasser has engineered
all Sauter- Finegan recordings) despite several attempts
to change it.

Nine microphones are used, as opposed to the four
which are customary on a dance band date. Three of
them are clustered around the pianist and harpist — one
for the glockenspiel, one for the harp and one for the
piano and celesta. The band is arranged with the trum-
pets in back on a single tier, trombones on the floor in
front of the trumpets, reeds ahead of the brass in a semi-
circle and the rhythm to the left or right looking at the
rest of the band.

Although all nine microphones have never been used
on any one number, any mike that is turned on stays on.

"Both Bill and Ed have a good ear," Elsasser has re-
ported somewhat ruefully. "Once when I cut off a mike
that had been used for a solo, they detected a change in
the room sound. So now I don't take a mike all the way
off; I just take it 'way down."

In their two years of working together, a warm mutual
admiration has developed between Sauter and Finegan
and Elsasser. After hearing the first playback of their
first record, Finegan told Elsasser with amazement that he
was getting exactly the sound that they wanted. "I seem
to feel their type of music," Elsasser says. "I seem to
know what they want."

Their one bone of contention has come from Elsasser's
desire to get as distinct definition as possible between
each instrument.

"Freddie keeps moving the members of a section farther
and farther away from each other," Sauter has remarked.
"We have to keep after him to tighten his setup because
it's hard for the musicians to play when they're scattered
about too much."

On the other hand, neither Sauter nor Finegan are un-
reasonably rigid in their demands on Elsasser.

"When I complain that a high high is too tough to
catch properly, Bill and Eddie are willing to compromise
if they don't feel that it's too important," the engineer
reports. "But when Eddie raises the baton and says,
'Here it is, boys. Here we go to the roof — then I know
I've got to catch it, tough or not."

It was at Elsasser's suggestion that the band recently
moved its recording locale from Manhattan Center to
Webster Hall. The first sides made at Webster Hall, to be

June, 1954

released in June on an LP called Inside Sauter-Finegan,
are, in the opinions of the two leaders, the best records
they have made.

"Manhattan Center had an old wood sound," Sauter
explains. "It was a good sound but it lacked definition.
When you needed a sharp percussion sound, it wouldn't
come. But we found that Webster Hall, which is full of
mirrors and revolving chandeliers, has a brighter, brilliant
sound."

Sauter and Finegan consider the Webster Hall record-
ings, which include numbers designed to show off in-
dividual sections of the orchestra (a percussion opus,
Eddie and the Witch Doctor, a selection for woodwinds
called A Wild Wind in the Woods) and individual musicians,
both a departure from earlier Sauter-Finegan recorded
work, successful expressions of what they want to do.
They feel that their first group of recordings were also
successful in this sense but there were several efforts in
between, when it had been decided that they had to
produce a popular hit, about which they are none too
happy.

Listeners will find little stylistic similarity between the
two groups of recordings which Sauter and Finegan
view as successful.

"We take a dim view of style," Finegan says. "After
we had made our first four sides, the entrepreneurs moved
in and labeled what we had done on those records as our
style. Actually, we don't have any style and we don't
want any style in that sense. Whatever Eddie writes is
obviously Sauter and whatever I write is me. Anything
we write will have this identity, which is a very different
thing from a set style."

Their musicians find the things that Sauter and Finegan
write so intriguing that their recording sessions rouse an
unusual amount of group interest. After each take, the
entire band troops out to the improvised control room to
listen with critical intensity to the playback. They crowd
so closely around Elsasser's equipment that he sometimes
has trouble worming his way through to the controls.

At a recent session, when Sauter had expressed his
satisfaction with the Continued on page 87

Sauter's trumpet (raised) and Finegan's chest (covered).

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Two approaches to the subject of music in the home are vividly
contrasted on these pages. Below: the sound emerges subtly from a tasteful
installation which almost defies the listener to locate the music or its producer.
Across the page: the formidable music making fa ci li ties of a man who really
means business. Fashionable or functional? Take your choice.

The solid cherry wood cabinet above which
houses a 15-inch woofer and an acoustical-
lens tweeter behind its louvered doors,
and the cobbler's bench containing turn-
table, tuner and amplifier were created by
Darrell Draper, 5640 Cambury Street,
Temple City, California. At right; the two
pieces {The cherry wood cabinet can be
identified by the bust of Beethoven) are
pictured in their living-room setting.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

The audio hobbyist's dream above was designed by George Allen, a Chicago guitar in-
structor and his friend, Edward Beyer. It includes a television tube, two amplifiers,
and preamps, tuner, record changer, turntable, speaker-selector box, time-clock which
operates all the equipment, Magnecord, iyinch speaker and jour 8-inch speakers lo-
cated in other rooms. Its complex wiring system, incidentally, will be described in
a future issue in our Audio Forum. The handsome piece on the left below is the creation
of Barnet Lilieti, a Harrison, N. /., lawyer. It has connecting speakers in every room.
The cabinet in the middle was built by Roy L. Schinnerer of Long Beach, Calif. The
sliding top when moved the other way uncovers a Garrard changer. Sliding-panel
cabinet on the right was built by Weingarten Electronic Labs, Los Angeles, Calif.

June, 1954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

S3**

V id Sarser

Men-eared etfte-gwvrd ca&s itself- simply

v CooK

Miller

von. (musicians ang masic lovcrs

Photographs by Fred Plaat — Coverage by John M. Conly.

Like any other area of human enthusiasm, the high fidelity
scene has its stereotyped characters, a couple of whom
have been so overpublicized that a good many of us have
developed something like an allergy to them. One of
these is the Audiomaniac, who loves sound-reproduction
and its associated gadgetry ecstatically, almost madly,
but is devoid of the faintest interest in music. The other is
the Music Worshiper, whose devotion to the masters is so
intense that he plays records only reluctantly, and then on
the old hand-wound gramophone, lest the composer's
semi-divine intent be defiled by assistance from mundane
technology.

No doubt actual, living prototypes of these legendary
characters exist. To these, no offense is meant. They
seem to be either very few, very retiring or unusually
well-mannered, for they never bother anyone. The same

cannot be said of their mythical counterparts, however.
These crop up aggressively in almost every audio-musical
conversation more than 1 5 minutes long, making everyone
present squirm. Their ghostly purpose seems to be to
spread a synthetic yet divisive hostility. If you know what
"decibel" means, they silently sneer, you cannot possibly
also know what Debussy means. And vice versa.

Sane, strong-minded followers of our art can readily
exorcise these malignant phantasms, but often they do
leave behind them an unpleasant aura. And this is what
makes it so extraordinarily pleasant to attend a meeting
of a slightly fabulous New York organization called, with
splendid simplicity, the Audio Club for Musicians and
Music Lovers. For both the nameless Worshiper and the
faceless Maniac are automatically barred out. They couldn't
endure the proceedings.

Audio Club discussion panel from left to right, David Maukovitz, Will Lorin, Ward Davenny, Norman Pickering, the author , Fred Grunfeld.

What the Audiomaniac would have to suffer (if he tried)
would be the sight of a couple of American audio's most-
honored inventors, seated on a stage and shamelessly ply-
ing unelectronic instruments — made of polished wood and
coiled brass — in obvious devotion to someone named
Mozart, who died before the vacuum tube was invented.

Shortly afterward, the Worshiper would be affronted
to hear a violinist, a violist and a horn-player, seasoned
in three of the Nation's leading symphony orchestras,
gather at a long table and happily begin answering ques-
tions about impedances, loudspeaker-phrasing, intermodu-
lation-distortion and hum-level.

Should either of the obnoxious wraiths choose to linger
longer, there would be still worse to come. From the
audience of 200-odd people might arise a noted orchestra
conductor, to raise the issue of the hysteresis motor

his engineering training, and played French horn three
years in the Indianapolis Symphony. He is also a compe-
tent violist. David Sarser, for nine years a violinist in
Toscanini's NBC Symphony, also is co-designer of the
Musician's Amplifier and has enjoyed the world's most
coveted audio-assignment — installing sound in the great
Toscanini mansion at Riverdale, N. Y.

Almost in self-defense, the three men decided to pool
efforts, form a club and seek recruits.

It was a prompt and lively success. The club now has
become something like a Council of Ultimate Resort for
perfectionist home-music enthusiasts in New York and its
environs (and even farther afield). The recruits now
number about 250, and include some decidedly illustrious
members. Among them are, for instance, conductor, Andre
Kostelanetz; Mitch Miller, oboist and Columbia Records

Unelectronic Instruments at work: David Mankovitz, violin; Norman Pickering, born; Ward Davenny, piano; Will Lorin, turning pages.

versus the belt-drive as an antidote to turntable-rumble.
Or a consulting radio engineer might stand to ask why
major symphony orchestras seemed to have so much time
for Tchaikovsky and so little for Carl Orff. Hither would
get prompt, plentiful and knowledgeable response. As
has been said, this is an unusual organization.

It was brought into being a little over a year ago by
three young musicians who are also audio-experts and who
were, accordingly, under constant harassment for audio
advice by their musician-acquaintances. These are David
Mankovitz, Norman Pickering and David Sarser. Man-
kovitz, who lias been president of the club since its incep-
tion, is a Columbia Broadcasting System staff musician
(he was first viola in the now-defunct CBS Symphony
Orchestra) and a long-time audio hobbyist, Norman
Pickering is well known as the inventor of the phonograph
pickup cartridge and founder of the company that bears
his name. It is less well known that he attended the
Juilliard School of Music, on a scholarship, after finishing

JUNIi, 1954

executive; Don Gillis, NBC producer, composer and con-
ductor; the four members of the Kroll String Quartet;
Emory Cook, producer of Sounds-of-Our-Time records;
Alfredo Antonini. CBS Conductor; Leonid Hambro, pia-
nist; Frederic Grunfeld, erstwhile music commentator of
station WQXR; Fred Plaut. noted photographer and Colum-
bia recording engineer; Bernard Greenhouse, cellist; Julius
Baker, flutist, and sundry other men of note in the various
fields of music-making. Club secretary is Harry Zarief,
former concertinaster of the CBS Symphony, who achieved
considerable nonmusical fame some years back by becom-
ing the father of quadruplets.

The organization is an extremely informal one. It has
had no periodic elections, largely because no one felt
the need for any. "We never have any agenda, either,"
says President Mankovitz proudly. "That's what dries
organizations up and drives away members."

Meetings are supposed to take place four times a year,
but actually they happen whenever enough members feel

www.americanradiohistorv.com

the urge to meet, providing Mankovitz can round up
enough of the active musicians to assure a good chamber-
concert. "We always lead off with some live music,"
he explains. "It keeps the right sound in our ears, you
know, what we're trying to shoot at in our experiments
in reproduction."

After the musical opening (which consists of at least
one major work, complete) are scheduled talks by Club
members, dealing with subjects on which they are au-
thorities. Usually two or three talks are announced, but
a tradition has developed, according to which the first
speaker talks considerably longer than he planned to,
after which the other speakers insist that he has already
said everything they planned to, making it needless for
them to talk. And Part 3 of the meeting, the forum,
gets under way at once. The featured speakers are al-
ways members of the panel which leads the forum-dis-
cussion, and which is filled out by other Club members
to broaden its field of authority. This may be done by
on-the-spot recruiting out of the audience.

TVlE musical performances and the talks are always taped,
and the former usually played back, at least in part, some-
times through equipment newly devised by Club members
and brought in for demonstration. The audio part of the
program is in charge of Fred F. Salomon, an American
Broadcasting Company technician, who sits at the side
of the hall, off the stage, entirely surrounded by control
panels, amplifiers, turntables and other equipment.

The broadly inclusive nature of the meetings makes
it necessary to keep their over-all themes (in announce-
ments and so forth) equally broad and inclusive. The
result is that the topics for discussion usually are enticingly
vague — "The present condition of music reproduction,"
or "Some pro's and con's of live and recorded music."
This allows any speaker to talk about whatever happens
to be on his mind when the meeting takes place. To
judge by the liveliness of the discussions, the system is
exactly right. Speakers presented by or to be presented
in the near future by the Club include David Randolph,
Mitch Miller, Don Gillis, Remy Farkas (artist-and-reper-
toire director of London Records) and F.mory Cook. What
audio-innovations may be presented along with them,
nobody knows, since in most cases they haven't been con-
trived yet. The musical offerings are decided by (1) what
group of musicians Mankovitz can get together on a given
evening and (2) what music written for the right instru-
mental combination is familiar enough to all of them to
be played without repeated rehearsals, for which they
never have time.

Under these circumstances, it is testimony to the mem-
bers' enthusiasm that there have been three full-scale forums
in the past 14 months. The latest of these, held last April
at Carl Fischer Recital Hall, opposite Carnegie Hall, was
reasonably typical.

Fred Grunfeld, known to New Yorkers as former editor
of WQXR's "Music Magazine" program, acted as master
of ceremonies. The music for the occasion was the Brahms
Horn Trio in E-flat. Pickering played horn, Mankovitz

played violin; at the piano was Ward Davenny, director of
the Hartford (Conn.) School of Music. The performance
was spirited and excellently integrated, quite up to Town
Hall standards.

FoLLOWlNG it came a talk by scheduled Speaker No. 1,
Will Lorin, musical director of Polymusic Records. He
was to be followed by Nos. 2 and 3, Pickering and Davenny.
True to tradition, Lorin, a young-ish, square-jawed man,
began by sticking conscientiously to the lines of his topic
— the musical problems of producing a commercial record.
He touched sadly on the hazards of enthusiasm: the fruit-
less expeditions to try out halls of rumored acoustic per-
fection — the Colonial barn in Chevy Chase, Md.; the
obscure labor-union meeting hall in the Bronx. He brought
up aesthetico-technical problems of a kind that haunt
recording directors and never even occur to critical listeners:
how to impart different acoustic flavors to the same string
quartet when it plays Boccherini and when it jumps two
centuries to play Schdnberg: how to keep over-helpful
recording engineers from adding sonic impact to pages
where the composer was purposely holding back. He
outlined the musical director's view of the main use of
high fidelity: to make possible an accurate emphasis on
different kinds of sound. At that point, he was trapped,
as he went on to comment on listeners' reactions, on
various aspects of acute audiophilia and on musical in-
tolerance. As soon as he finished, Pickering and Davenny
pointed out that that was what they had been going to
say. Thereupon, Fred Grunfeld automatically announced
the panel discussion, audio demonstration and open
forum would follow. There was a brief intermission,
while Mankovitz conducted a search for a missing panel-
member, George Varkony, vice president of the New
York Society for Recorded Music, failed to find him and
instead shanghaied from the audience the writer of this
article. (Varkony turned up later. He had simply gone
out in the hall to hear the music better, become involved
in a conversation and neglected to come back.) The
query-topics were refreshingly varied. A man got up to
ask if the panel didn't think many new converts to live
music were made by high-fidelity home listening. The
panel did. Another asked advice on sources of record
reviews. Still another asked if the successful reproduc-
tion of large-scale music might not have to wait for the
day of multi-track recording. A man in a gray shirt rose
to deplore NBC's plan to disband the NBC Symphony.
Someone asked for the audio demonstration, and Salo-
mon began it. It featured an invention of his own, a net-
work to alter phase relationships between two speakers,
yielding an almost-convincing binaurality to a single-track
recording. The audience showed an inclination to mill
around, causing Mankovitz to stand up and apologize
for the liveness of the hall, which sabotaged the stereo-
phonic effect. He said the Club hoped to make more
of the networks, which members then could buy and try
for themselves. Several people began asking for a play-
back of the Brahms trio, and the formal part of the session
was at an end. Continued on page 87

High Fidelity Magazine

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RECORDS

Accords tn ticview

Reviewed by paul affelder • c. G. burke • john m. conly

RAY ERICSON • ALFRED FRANKENSTEIN • JAMES HINTON, 1R.
ROY H. HOOPES, JR. • J. F. INDCOX • ROBERT KOTLOWITZ
SALLY MCCASLIN • DAVID RANDOLPH • JOHN S. WILSON

Classical Music, Listed by Composer 41

Collections and Miscellany 50

Building Your Record Library 53

The Music Between 55

The Best of Jazz 56

Jazz Reissues 56

The Spoken Word 58

Children's Records 59

Schubert on Microgroove — 1954 60

Dialing Your Disks 64

CLASSICAL

BACH

Cantata No. 51, "Jauchzet Gott in Allen
Landen;" "Sheep May Safely Graze,"
from Cantata No. 208; "My Heart Ever
Faithful," from Cantata No. 68.

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano. Philhar-
monia Orchestra, Peter Gellhorn, cond.

Cantata No. 82, "Ich Habe Genug"

Hans Hotter, baritone. Philharmonia Or-
chestra, Anthony Bernard, cond.
Columbia ml 4792. 12-in. $5.45.

The cantata '"Jauchzet Gott in Allen Lan-
den" is, among other admirable things, a
virtuoso piece for the soprano voice, es-
pecially in its fast opening and closing sec-
tions. Miss Schwarzkopf's handling of the
florid coloratura passages is remarkable.
However, while one is aware of the conduc-
tors dramatic purpose in adopting such a
rapid tempo, one cannot help wondering
whether a slightly slower pace in the fast
portions would not have made things enough
easier for the singer to take away the feeling
of rush. It is a pleasure to hear the famous
aria "Sheep May Safely Graze," sung in its
original form, as a soprano solo.

On the reverse of the disk, Hans Hotter
gives a beautiful, posed performance of a
cantata whose somber feeling contrasts well
with the exuberance of "Jauchzet Gott."
The accompaniments are all sympathetic,
and are done with full, modern orchestras.

One could wish that the soloists, especially
Miss Schwarzkopf, had been just a little
closer to the microphone. However, the
ear rapidly adjusts. Technically, the record-
ings are excellent. D. R.

BACH

Six French Suites: No. 1, in D Minor;
No, 2, in C Minor; No, 3, in B Minor;

No. 4, in E Flat; No. 5, in G; No. 6, in E.
Reine Gianoli, piano.

Westminster wal 307. Three 12-in. 15, 12,
i3, i3, 16, 15 min. $17.85.

Neither of the two complete recordings on
piano of Bach's French suites. Miss Gianoli's
or Alexander Borovsky's (Vox), illuminates
the music very much, and the listener
should turn to Fernando Valenti's recording
on harpsichord (Westminster) for a full-
bodied, lively re-creation. However, for
those who want a piano version, Mr.
Borovsky's forthright, plain-spoken read-
ing seems preferable to Miss Gianoli's neat,
delicate, slightly sentimental one. The Vox
edition, moreover, is cheaper, being con-
fined to two disks, although Westminster
includes a pocket score with its album.
Mr. Borovsky's tone is dry and cool. Miss
Gianoli's somewhat bright and astringent;
the lady plays more slowly, makes greater
use of ritards, varies the touch and dy-
namics more, and tries to provide more
contrast in repetitions. Mechanically both
recordings are of superior grade, but West-
minster has captured Miss Gianoli's tone
the more suavely. R. E.

BACH, K. P. E.

Concerto for Orchestra, in D — See Haydn.

BALAK.IREFF
Tamar — A Symphonic Poem
tRimsky-Korsakoff: Suite from Ivan the
Terrible

London Symphony Orchestra, Anatole Fis-
toulari, cond.

M-G-M E 3076. 12-in. 43 min. 14.85.

BalakirefP s symphonic poem Tamar might
well be described as an intellectual first
cousin to Scheherezade. It has the same
oriental cast, sensuous orchestration and
barbaric splendor as the Rimsky- Korsakoff
work, but lacks the latter's tuneful appeal.

However, it is also far less diffusive in its
writing, and there is little of the rcpetitious-
ness that many find annoying in Scheherezade,
The Overture and The Storm music from
Ivan the Terrible, sometimes known as The
Maid of Prkev, is about all one hears today
from Rimsky-KorsakofFs first opera. The
two intermezzi add very little to the interest
of this recording.

These are rather vigorous performances,
without much suavity of tone in the strings;
fairly good brass; weak percussion. My
pressing sounded extremely rough, and
there was noticeable wavering as the stylus
approached the spindle, on each side. J. F. I.

BEETHOVEN

Quintet for Piano and Winds, Op. 16 ■
See Mozart.

BEETHOVEN

Sonatas for Piano and Violin: No. 3 in E
Flat, Op. 12, No. 3; No. 5, in F, "Spring,"
Op. 24

Ginette Doyen, Jean Foutnier.
Westminster wl 5247. 12-in. 18, 22 min.
*V95-

These are the fifth and sixth Sonatas in a
Westminster series that no doubt will in-
clude all 10. The record is a gem modestly
gleaming, a lovely example of an entente
cordial* musicale, of an equipoised partner-
ship rare in these works perversely referred
to as "violin sonatas." It is true that Mr.
Fournier traces a line of significant classic
purity that the piano cannot imitate, being
percussive; and so our attention is on him
although the piano leads and the pianist's
musicianship is equivalent. The "Spring"
Sonata is soft and restrained here, spring
not carnival, happy but not excited, ex-
citement being reserved for Op. 1 2, No. 3,
in a subtle alteration of style. It is hard to
find fault with the record, a grievous thing

June, 1954

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RECORDS

for a critic, and remarkable, too, when a
violin is concerned. C. G. B.

BEETHOVEN

Symphony No. 6, in F, "Pastoral," Op. 68

Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam,

Erich Kleiber, cond.

London ll 916. 12-in. 41 min. $5.95.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas
Beecham, cond.

Columbia ML 4828. 12-in. 42 min. $5.95.

In spite of the excellent registration of both,
neither of the new "Pastorals" is an indis-
pensable member of the 132 recordings of
the nine Beethoven symphonies. Both of
these are slow, and Sir Thomas's mobility
is depressingly lumpy, especially in the first
two movements, not redeemed by the
pleasant, deep gleam of the orchestra. Mr.
Kleiber too is lost in his reflections by the
brook, but comes decidedly to life in rhe
scherzo, storm and hymn, all broad and free-
swinging, and endowed with vivid, big
sound, bolder here rhan Columbia's, thun-
derous in the bass and unmistakable in
detail. There is some rumble, which will
not be detected on most apparatus. C. G. B.

BEETHOVEN

Themes (6) Varied, for Piano and Flute,
Op. io%' Themes (10) Varied, for Piano
and Flute, Op. toy; Bagatelles, Op. 126;
Allegretto in C Minor; Four Little Piano
Pieces

Richard Dirksen, piano; Wallace Mann,
flute.

Esoteric 525-6. Two 12-in. 23, 54, 20, 5,
6 min. $11 .90.

We are beginning to scrape the bottom of the
Beethoven barrel. What remains is not nec-
essarily lees, and among the Canons, songs
and variations unrecorded, there are un-
doubtedly many fit for performance and
registration. In the album at hand, the Bag-
atelles, Op. 126, are well known as a major
minor work, and they have already been
recorded, in an edition including all the
other Bagatelles, by Concert Hall.

The 16 Themes and Variations of Opp.
105 and 107, which are the items of first
attention in the Esoteric album, are late
works in the Beethoven production, and
Op. 107, if it is regarded as one work rather
than 10, is one of the longest of Beethoven's
compositions. Most of these themes upon
which the composer wove variations are
traditional and national — Scotch, Irish,
Russian, Austrian. The music is hard to
estimate, since some of the variations pro-
ceed with a certain mechanical banaliry and
others display a rare and rebellious fancy
marked by odd humor, amusing satire and
unexpected excursions. The longer, Op.
107, is the more difficult and the more
stimulating; and it is to be remarked that
the players do better with the subtler impli-
cations of the superior work than with the
benevolent simplicities of Op. 105. The
performers are men of integrity and sense,
but the flute is too often watery, and the
pianist, in a laudable effort to preserve bal-
ance, has perforce limited his output. That
is too bad, since the sound as we have it is
admirable in its matter-of-fact accuracy.
Very easy to reproduce, it carries a piano
and a flute in what seems a completely
natural projection, without evident influ-

Johannes Brahms; ardent cooperation from
a 20th century lady who left us too soon.

ence from any peculiarity of environmental
acoustics. It is a lirtle triumph of rhe non-
pompous technique of recording: nothing
dramatic in it, except a realization of how
few faults there are. C. G. B.

BETTINELLI

Sinfonia da Camera for String Orchestra
tCatalani: A Sera-Serenatella

Scarlatti Orchestra di Napoli, Roberto Lupi,
cond. in the Bettinelli; Pietro Argento,
cond. in the Catalani.
Colosseum clps 1040. 12-in. $5.95.

Until the appearance of this record, the
name Bettinelli was absolutely unknown to
this reviewer. The jacket notes list him as
Angelo Bettinelli, born in 1878. But the
Sinfonia da Camera turns out to be a vigor-
ous piece in decidedly modern idiom,
roughly in the style of Hindemith, or per-
haps Tansman. Can the date of birth be
an error? If not, then why haven't we
heard more of a composer who, though
born more than three-quarters of a century
ago, could write such "contemporary"
sounding music?

Aside from one obviously bad tape splice
in the Bettinelli work, the recordings are
adequate. But surely, Colosseum can do
better than to give us an LP disk in which
one side (the Catalani) takes no more than
seven minutes and 55 seconds! D. R.

BOTTESINI

Grand Duo Concerlante for Violin and

Double-Bass
fDragOnetti: Concerto for Double-Bass

Mario Anastasio, double-bass; Jesse Tryon,
violin; Harriet Wingreen, piano.
Classic ce 1035. 12-in. $5.95.

Giovanni Bottesini (182 2- 1889) and Dora-
enico Dragonetti (1763- 1846) were both
virtuosi on the double-bass, of course, and
both of these showpieces were obviously
intended for the personal display of their
respective composers' talents. As music,
they are fifth-rate. Nevertheless, they do
afford one of those rare opportunities for the
"bull-fiddle" to shine, and shine it does in
these altogether brilliant performances by

Anastasio. If you can bear the trite, unin-
spired music, you may be amazed at the
manner in which he gets around on his un-
wieldy instrument. Jesse Tryon and Har-
riet Wingreen blend well with him in this
unusual disk, which has the benefit of rich,
throbbing reproduction. P. A.

BRAHMS

Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53; Two Songs for Con-
tralto with Viola Obbligato, Op. t)j;
Sapphische Ode, Op. 94, No. 4; Botschaft,
Op. 47, No, 2

Kathleen Ferrier, contralto. London Phil-
harmonic Choir and London Philharmonic
Orchestra; Clemens Krauss, cond., in the
Rhapsody; Max Gilbert, viola, in the Two
Songs; Phyllis Spurr, piano, in the Two Songs,
Sapphische Ode and Botschaft.
London ll 903. 12-in. $5.95.

The untimely death of Kathleen Ferrier last
October robbed the music-world of one of
its finest, most sensitive singers. There
have been few contraltos who could sing
with the variety and warmth of tone color
or the deep expressiveness which marked
Miss Ferrier's interpretations. Fortunately,
she was fairly active in the recording studios,
so that we may continue for a while to en-
joy her beautiful singing even though she
is no longer with us.

As far as I can ascertain, London has
issued the last of the tape-recorded Ferrier
performances, but still has a few 78 rpm
masters — for dubbing — in the "ice-box."
The present record was originally on 78s,
but the sound is quite satisfactory. Far
more important, the singing is sumptuous
and exquisite. Miss Ferrier is at her best in
the more serious Alto Rhapsody, where she
receives splendid support from the male
section of the London Philharmonic Choir
and the London Philharmonic Orchestra,
conducted broadly by Clemens Krauss. Her
work in the shorter songs, however, is also
on a high artistic plane, especially in the
two wonderful songs with viola obbligato —
Gestillte Sebnsucht and Geistliches Wie gen lied.
Max Gilbert's viola is sonorous, Phyllis
Spurr's piano discreet. The fidelity may not
be of the highest, but the artistry certainly is,
making this a Brahms disk of distinction
and another living memorial to a great lady
who left us too soon. P. A.

BRAHMS

Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15
(two versions)

Rudolf Serkin, piano. Cleveland Orchestra,

George Szell, cond.

Columbia ml 4829. 12-in. $5.95-

Clifford Curzon, piano. Concertgebouw
Orchestra of Amsterdam, Eduard van
Beinum, cond.

London ll 850. 12-in. 46 min. $5.95.

Unfortunately, I have yet to hear the Mal-
cuzynski-Rieger (Angel) and Solomon-
Kubelik (Victor) versions of this concerto,
but of the others Mr. Curzon's seems to me
the best. Still, all the recorded performances
ire so fine that a listener's tastes can be the
deciding factor.

The Wiihrer-Swarowsky (Vox) reading is
steady and sober, allowing the massive, com-
plex score to speak for itself. Good piano
tone and plenry of resonance mark the lively
sound. The earlier of two Serkin recordings,

High Fidelity Magazine

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. 1

RECORDS

made with Fritz Reiner and the Pittsburgh
Symphony (Columbia), is energetic and
virtuosic, with some subtleties and tender-
ness in the slow movement not to be found
on the Vox disk — nor on the new Serkin
version. Mechanically adequate, the first
recording shows its age next to its com-
petitors. In his recent recording with George
Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr.
Serkin seems to be working harder than ever,
as if he were trying to outshine the orchestra
with the ringing brilliance of his attacks
and surging phrases. The pianist never
produces an ugly or percussive note, but
in his search for the "big" performance he
comes close to punching the piano. The
arching lines of the slow movement rise
and fall in a noble, beautifully planned read-
ing, and the Rondo is exciting in its head-
long drive. Mr. Szell contributes a stern,
powerful interpretation, which in its in-
cisive way is a perfect match for Mr. Serkin's.
The recording is exceptionally brilliant all
around.

Mr. Curzon offers a more relaxed, slower,
warmer performance, adjectives that can be
used also about Mr. van Beinum's concep-
tion of the work. The orchestral sound is
full and clearly defined, and Mr. Curzon's
solid tone stands out in admirable relief.
In the first movement the English pianist
provides less of the intricate interpretative
detail than Mr. Serkin does, and the playing
resembles Mr. Wiihrer's in its four-square
style. The Adagio is superb in its delicacy,
poignancy, and tragic implications, and the
last movement, given a slower, more lyric
treatment, seems less elephantine than it
sometimes does.

The program notes for the London disk
are mildly confusing at first since they ap-
parently were taken over lock, stock and
barrel from a 78-rpm issue. They keep re-
ferring to disk sides that don't exist. R. E.

BRAHMS

Quintet/or Clarinet and Strings in B Minor,
Op. ii 5

Alfred Boskovsky, clarinet, with members
of the Vienna Octet.
London ll 858. 12-in. $5.95.

Sonata /or 'Cello and Piano No. 1 in E

Minor, Op. 38
Sonata for 'Cello and Piano No. 2 in F

Major, Op. 99

Janos Starker, 'cello; Abba Bogin, piano.
Period spl 59 J. 12-in. $5.95.

Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8
Trio di Trieste

London ll 955. 12-in. $1.95.

Here are three truly distinguished Brahms
chamber music disks. Not only do they
represent four of the composer's outstand-
ing masterpieces in the intimate style, but
they are performed and recorded with great
artistry.

Most notable of the three recordings is
the Trio in B Major, This songful work is
certainly not wanting in superb representa-
tion on disks, but this performance by the
admirable Trio di Trieste is perhaps the
most refined, most noble and most closely
integrated yet to appear.

Janos Starker has received lavish praise
from other quarters; most of his earlier
releases that I have heard have fallen some-

June, 1954

what short in interpretive perception. But
there can be no quarrel about his treatment
of these two lyrical sonatas. He plays with
breadth and understanding, and his glow-
ingly rich tone has been excellently repro-
duced. In Abba Bogin, he has an ideal
collaborator, who makes these works the
duets they should be. The cooperative
engineers have also maintained an equal
balance between the rwo performers.

The traversal of the introspective Clarinet
Quintet by five members of the Vienna Octet
may not plumb the depths of the music,
but it is serious and straight-forward, and
is played and recorded with the utmost
clarity.

Any or all of these disks will enhance a
Brahms collection. P. A.

BRAHMS

Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73

The Philadelphia Orchestra; Eugene Or-
mandy, cond.

Columbia ml 4827. 12-in. $5.95.

This disk completes the cycle of four Brahms
symphonies recorded by Ormandy. This
conductor has a wonderful way with Brahms.
He draws a glowing tone from his magnifi-
cent orchestra, yet allows the music to speak
for itself without ever becoming heavy or
dry. The Second has been recorded 15
times on LP, and several of the versions are
exceptionally fine; some may equal but none
is likely to surpass this newest One, which
boasts the customary warmth and spacious-
ness accorded the Philadelphia Orchestra
by the Columbia engineers. Comparison
is suggested with the versions by Toscanini
(RCA Victor), Von Karajan (Angel) and
Schuricht (London; new). P. A.

BRAHMS

Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21,
No. 1 — See Schumann.

BRITTEN

Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra;
Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia
from Peter Grimes.

Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam,

Eduard van Beinum, cond.

London ll 917. 12-in. 18, 22 min. $5.95.

Britten's Young Person's Guide is a unique
and important work: it tackles the problem
of introducing the instruments of the or-

Clarence Walters: from Philadelphia to
Bethlehem was a short musical pilgrimage.

chestra and exemplifying their uses with
dignity and skill and without any trace of
condescension; furthermore these variations
on a theme by Pureed are all natural, right
and imaginative from a musical point of
view. The music from Peter Grimes on the
other side is, of course, cleverly dramatic
and atmospheric, but just a little fourth
rate. Superlative recording, especially for
the Young Person's Guide, is more necessity
than luxury here, and London has fur-
nished it. A. F.

CATALANI

A Sera-Serenatella — See Bettinelli.
DRAGONETTI

Concerto for Double-Bass — See Bottesini.
DUPRE

Symphonie Passion, Opus 23

Clarence Watters, organist.

Classic Editions ce 1020. 12-in. $5.95.

This work had its origin during the Christ-
mas season of 1922, when the French or-
ganist and composer, Marcel Dupr£, was
giving a recital at Wanamaker*s, in Phila-
delphia. Since he was an outstanding modern
exponenr of the art of improvising, one of
the numbers on his program was a symphony
to be improvised on themes submitted to
him. Later, he noted down some of the
ideas that he had improvised at the concert,
with the intention of incorporating them
in a composition. By 1924 the work was
completed, and it was first performed at
the opening of the organ of the Cathedral of
Westminster, in London.

It is an imposing, dramatic work, into
whose four movements the composer has
incorporated several plainsong themes, in-
cluding the famous "Adeste Fideles." The
performance, by a pupil of the composer, is
excellent, as is the recording itself. The
surfaces on my review copy were excep-
tionally quiet. D. R.

DVORAK
Gypsy Songs, Op. 53
Love Songs, Op. 83
fGrieg: Songs

Dvorak. Gypsy Songs, Op. $y. My Song Re-
sounds; My Triangle's Singing; Silent the Woods;
Songs My Mother Taught Me; Strum Your
Fiddle, Gypsy; Vest of Purple, Blouse of Linen;
To the Heights of Tatra. Lope Songs, Op. 83:
Death Seems to Many Men the Goal; I Walk So
Softly; In Deepest Forest Shade; Oh, Could Our
Love but Lead Us. Grieg: So/veig's Song,
Op. 23, No. 1; On St. John's Eve, Op. 60,
No. 5; Tides of Spring, Op. 33, No. 2; I Love
Thee, Op. 5, No. 3; A Dream, Op. 48, No. 6;
Thanks for Thy Advice, Op. 21, No. 4; A
Swan, Op. 23, No. 2; Eros, Op. 70, No. 1.

Dorothy Warenskjold, soprano. Concert
Arts Orchestra, George Greely, cond.
Capitol p-8247- 12-in. $5.95.

Dorothy Warenskjold, although she has
sung around the country in recital and as
soloist with various orchestras, and has ap-
pealed with the San Francisco Opera Com-
pany in such lyric-soprano roles as that of
Sophie in Der Rosen kavalier, is probably most
familiar to members of the radio and tele-
vision audiences. Her voice is an attractive,
cool, flexible, limpid one, and she uses it

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RICORDi

with youthful intelligence and real taste and
mu icianship. For those who want the
repertoire offered, and want it sung taste-
fully in clear English, there is no reason to
resist the urge to buy, for the recording is
good-grade Capitol, fresh and natural. Miss
Warenskjold's fresh, unmannered singing is
especially well suited to some of the Grieg
songs. The Dvorak — especially the Gypsy
Songs — are not as satisfying, for although
the singing is attractive it has not the bite
and vitality to make them come off. The
translations sound all right and the orches-
trations, not credited to anyone, are skill-
fully made. J. H., Jr.

FALLA

Nights in the Gardens of Spain — See
Grieg.

FAURE

Requiem, Opus 48

Patricia Beems (s), Theodore Uppman (bn);
The Roger Wagner Chorale and The Con-
cert Arts Orchestra, Roger Wagner, cond.
Capitol p 8241. 12-in. 35 min. $5.72.

A fine, sensitive performance, well recorded.
Especially gratifying is the recotding of the
chorus. The voices seem to emerge with a
naturalness that is aided by the acoustics —
neither too cavernous nor too small. One
might wish for a shade more vocal opulence
in the soprano soloist. D. R.

DITTERSDORF

Three Partitas for Wind Quintet — See
Playel.

GRIEG

Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16.
tFalla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain

Guiomar Novaes, piano; Pro Music Sym-
phony, Vienna, Hans Swarowsky, cond.
Vox pl 8520. 12-in. 3o, 24 min. $5.95.

About the only trouble with this disk is the
coupling: people who like Grieg's full-
blown romanticism might not like Falla's
jeweled impressionism, and vice versa. Other-
wise the recording is generous in quantity,
excellent acoustically, magnificent in per-
formance on the part of the soloist. By
comparison the admirable Curzon (London)
and Gieseking (Columbia) versions are un-
coupled with a second work; the Rubin-
stein (Victor) is just not as good musically;
the Lipatti (Columbia) is poorer in reproduc-
tion if comparable in musical values. With
her infallible understanding, Miss Novaes
brings to the Grieg concerto both heroic
sweep and a rich, unsentimental expressive-
ness. She plays the first-movement cadenza
as if it were ptofound music and almost
persuades the listener that it is. The Adagio
is really slow and amply spacious, and the
Brazilian pianist adds interesting, unusual

accents of her own. In the evocative Falla
work, she alternately blends and contrasrs
the pianistic colors with those of the or-
chestra in an extraordinarily sensitive per-
formance. Mr. Swarowsky and his Vien-
nese players do well by both scores, but
other ensembles have brought more glitter
and elegance to the Spanish music. The
recording is one of Vox's best, splendidly
resonant. Occasionally the extremes of the
piano lack complete fullness. R. E.

GRIEG

Songs — See Dvorak.

HAYDN
The Creation

National Opera Chorus, Vienna, and Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra, with Trude Eip-
perle (s), Friedl Riegler (s), Julius Patzak
(t), Georg Hann (bs) and Alois Perner-
storfer (bs); Clemens Krauss, cond.
Musical Masterpiece Society 201 5.

Two 12-in. I hr. 49 min. $5.00.
One of the early ambitious projects of the
Haydn Society finds its way after five years
to a reprint that offers some advantages over
the original. First, the use of four sides in-
stead of six; second, a great reduction in
price; and third, a considerable diminution
of background noise. The latter benefit has
been accompanied by some loss of dynamic

The Sad Case of the Misplaced Foet

This is an absolutely incomprehensible
production. Thanks to an unimaginable
piece of stupidity, one of the greatest
records of the year has been totally
ruined.

Das Marienltben is a cycle of 1 5 songs
running about an hour and a quarter. It
is one of the major vocal works of modern
times, it is one of the pinnacles of Hinde-
mith's achievement, and it has been in-
terpreted and recorded in keeping with
its epical significance. And then they
leave out the text, which is only by
Rainer Maria Rilke!

Along with these records we get a
handsome brochure of no less than 19
huge pages, 14 of them devoted to a
long essay on the cycle by the composer

Tourel

himself, an essay which is quite illumin-
ating although it is frequently very
abstruse. The last five pages are devoted
to an English translation of the text, but
the original text of Rilke is not there,
and the entire recording is utterly mean-
ingless without it, since Miss Tourel
sings the songs in Rilke's German.

Columbia cannot possibly believe that
any large number of people to whom
German is a closed book would buy this
record. It has no appeal whatever to the
crowd that buys, say, Rimsky-Korsa-
koff's "Spanish Caprice," and yet the
one thing the knowing hearet cannot
possibly do without is the one thing
Columbia has not provided; conse-
quently this recotd will not sell among the
knowing, it will not sell among the ig-
norant, and it might just as well not have
been issued. In his essay Hindemith
himself says "Just as the music is nour-
ished, incited, infused, and lifted above
the sphere of purely musical beauty and
credibility by the text, so a purely musical
influence must in turn illuminate the
ignoring the poet"s side of it, Columbia
has irredeemably wrecked the entire
conception. This is sickeningly unfair to
Hindemith, to Tourel. and ro the public;
it is doubly unfair because the existence
of this set will prevent others from re-
cording the same work, at least with
word, fill it with added meaning, and on
its part raise the whole to a level that
words cannot reach." There is, in short,
a creative interaction between poet and
composer which cannot be understood
or even approached without full knowl-
edge of the poet's contribution, and in

artist's of Tourel's stature and in such
grand general style.

I expatiate at length on this omission
because Columbia has often been guilty,
of such oversights, and it need not be,
especially when most of its competitors
give full texts in original languages and
translation, and when it can find the
space to print 14 pages of the composer's
essay on the work.

Alfred Frankenstein

HINDEMITH: Das Marienleben

Jennie Tourel, mezzo-soprano; Erich Itor
Kahn, piano.

Columbia sl 196. Two 12-in. 1:15 min.
$11.90.

Hindemith

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H£COK£l>j

expression. Basically, the Krauss direction
is big and incisive, and chorus and orchestra
are proficient in transmitting the compound
of grandeur and simplicity that makes the
Oratorio so durably sympathetic. A new
hearing confirms the excellent impression
left by Mr. Patzak's everlasting tenor, and
can still uncover no reason for enthusiasm
over Miss Eipperle. Mr. Hann, a fixture in
this kind of recording from Austria, is an
imposing Raphael.

The original excessive echo is still here
to soften climaxes, but the projection of
sound as a whole is satisfactory. The first
printing was a more telling, and a cruder,
production: the new one gives less cause
for disturbance. C. G. B.

HAYDN

Symphony No. 85, in B Flat, "Queen 0/
France"

fK. P. E. Bach: Concerto for Orchestra,
in D 'Orchestrated by Maximilian
Steinberg)

MGM Chamber Orchestra, Jzler Solomon,
cond.

MGM E 3109. 12-in. 23, 17 min. $4.85.

Excellent orchestral playing and appealing
string tone in both. The direction is scru-
pulously correct, and makes some delicate
points, particularly in the splendid Steinberg
transcription of a quartet for strings by
Bach's noblest son. But the main stream,
away from these points of light, is phleg-
matic, static. The highly accurate, nicely
blended sound would have been better with
a greater warmth of resonance. C. G. B.

HOLST

The Planets, Op. 32

Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra. Lon-
don Philharmonic Choir. Sir Adrian Boult,
cond.

Westminster wl 5235. i2-in. 48 min.
$5-95-

It is unlikely that we shall be treated to a
more exhilarating performance of Holst"s
astrological suite than the present version
by Boult and his men. In every respect, it
completely outclasses his previous reading
on HMV. This is a gaudy and picturesque
score, impressively orchestrated, and by
reason of its rapidly changing musical dy-
namics, probably exceedingly difficult to
record. For the most part, Westminster's —
or is it Nixa's? — engineers have produced
some lustrous sound, particularly in the
section "Saturn," with its harps, bells,
flutes, etc., and in the blaring trumpets and
trombones of the "Uranus" section. Only
an occasional blurriness of orchestral defini-
tion prevents this from becoming a com-
pletely outstanding job. J. F. I.

HUMPERDINCK.
Hansel und Gretel

Elisabeth Schwarzkpof (s), Gretel; Elisa-
beth Griimmer (ms). Hansel; Anny Felber-
mayr (s), Sandman and Dew Fairy; Else
SchurhofF (ms). Witch; Maria von Ilovsay
(ms), Mother; Josef Metternich (b), Father.
Philharmonia Orchestra and choruses of
Loughton High School and Bancrofts
School; Herbert von Karajan, cond.
Angel 3506 B. Two 12-in. $11.90 (factory
sealed); $9,90 (thrift pack).

June, 1954

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf: a Gretel entirely
too sweet to be wasted on a witch's menu.

(Angel thrift pack includes records unboxed
in plain jackets; no notes, no libretto.)

Hansel und Gretel is not only Engelbert
Humperdinck's masterpiece, it is the only
work by him really to be met with outside
the pages of musical reference books. At
that, it has retained its grasp on life only in
spite of the most withering condescension;
it is declared to be the merest, flabbiest,
gooiest pseudo- Wagnerian confection, un-
worthy of serious attention. Yet what rival
could be brought forward to contest its
title as the most successful children's opera?
When all demerits have been assigned, the
proof of the gingerbread is, after all, in
the eating.

For an opera that was originally conceived
as a parlor entertainment. Hansel und Gretel
takes uncommonly well to full-scale pro-
duction, but only part of the magic lies in
the opportunities for spectacular staging.
It does help, to be sure, when there is a
really big golden staircase for the angels to
descend as they assemble to watch over the
tost, sleeping children (as in the old, and
now abandoned, Metropolitan production).
But the real secret lies in the opera itself —
in the libretto, and, even more, in the
maligned music. Even the shoddiest stage
lumber is golden if you are willing to be-
lieve that it is, and the angels (those who
used to gather during the Ford Sunday
Evening Hour) never moult if you listen to
their music without guile. The space-cadet
children of now are terribly wise, but witches
rode broomsticks long before the turbojet,
and fattened stray children for the oven
long before vitamin capsules were invented.
And still do, if you give them the chance.

The story of how Hansel und Gretel came
to be composed hardly needs another de-
tailed retelling. In 1891, Humperdinck
showed every sign of settling into comfort-
able mediocrity. In his youth he had won
prizes for composition; in young manhood
he had become a protege' of Wagner's and
had assisted the master in preparing the first
performances of Parsifal. Now, nearing 40.
he was teaching at the Hoch Conservatory
and writing music criticism for the news-
paper in Frankfurt. He composed, and his
compositions were sometimes performed,

but his career at this point seemed the very
pattern of promise unfulfilled.

Then his sister, Adelheid Witte, dreamed
up the idea of a fairy-tale play to divert the
children in the family. She asked her
brother to compose some music to go with
it. Before they had done, Hansel und Gretel
was a full-scale opera, and Richard Strauss,
then on his way up and chief conductor at
Weimar, had accepted it for production.
It had its premiere in 1893, two days before
Christmas, and ever since has had repertoire
status, at least in opera houses whose in-
tendants admit the existence of children.
As for Humperdinck, nothing much hap-
pened to him, although he continued to
pursue his new metier as a composer of
fairy operas. Kinigskinder (which has, in-
cidentally, many lovely things in it) was a
semi-success but durable only compared
with Dornroschen, He never quite found the
key again.

Perhaps the magic of Hansel und Gretel
really springs from the fact that it was con-
ceived in innocence. If this seems too naive-
ly homiletic, the same idea might be ex-
pressed in more worldly fashion by Saying
that perhaps it performs so well its function
as a children's opera because it was written
for real, live children — not for some
imaginary composite juvenile mentality.
There is little point in talking of musical
structure and influences; everything Hum-
perdinck's detractors say is quite true, but
the music, thick and sweet as divinity icing,
does exactly what it is supposed to do. There
is even less point in examining the libretto
from the folkloristic point of view. The
story belongs in the cannibal folk-tale
(exophagous) category, but so what? The
germane fact is that it works.

And it works especially well when it is
given a performance of the caliber recorded
by Angel. For those who are willing to let
Hansel und Gretel win them, there are two
recordings to be had, but the new one is of
almost unbeatable all-round quality. The
older Urania version has some beautiful
singing in it — notably by Erna Berger —
but it is, when all is said and done, a good,
routine presentation, taped on the wing,
while the Angel issue is as good as the most
painstakingly meticulous musical and tech-
nical attention could make it. In spite of
the sweetness and grace of Elisabeth Sch-
warzkopf's Gretel, perhaps the defining
asset is the conducting of Herbert von Kara-
jan, who (not forgetting the Philharmonia
players) makes everything in the score
sound magnificently. The engineers have
invested his efforts with extraordinary pre-
sence-effect. Elisabeth Griimmer's Hansel is
worthy of Gretel, and in this case what more
could be said? As the parents, Maria von
Ilovsay is splendid, and although Josef
Metternich is less impressive, he is still
better than adequate. One reservation, and
a moderately damaging one, must be made
— with regard to Else Schiirhoff's Witch.
She simply doesn't make either enough or
witchy enough sound. Her performance is
accurate and intelligent in every regard,
just not moving. Angel must have lost
contact with the powers of darkness.
Nevertheless, recommended, and highly.

J. H„ Jr.

K.REISLER
Quartet in A Minor
fPaganini: Quartet in E Major

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RECORDS

Stuyvesant String Quartet.
Philharmonia ph 107. 12-in. $5.95.

Both Fritz Kreisler and Niccolo Paganini,
two of the greatest violinists the world has
ever known, enjoyed that favorite pastime of
nearly every setious string player — perform-
ing in chamber music ensembles. Each also
wrote a string quartet containing music
which reflects his own individual style and
personality. These imporrant firsr recordings
reveal these works as no mere historical
curiosities. They are solidly constructed,
full of high spirits, and make rather heavy
demands upon all four performers. Kreisler's
has a certain unmistakable Viennese flavor,
yet is more serious in content than his
popular violin pieces in this genre. Paga-
nini's is, of course, more Italianate in feeling.
It contains a pizzicato scherzo of unusual
charm, with a theme that reminds one of
Brahms' Vergebliches Standchen. Both works
receive superlative performances by the
Stuyvesant Quartet. High among the
features of this fascinating disk, too, is the
extremely realistic reproduction — live,
resonant, and altogether just about the best
quartet sound I have ever heard on records.

P. A.

LIADOFF

Eight Russian Folk Songs, Op. 58 — See
Tchaikovsky.

LISZT

Missa Chora lit, in A Minor

Giuseppe Englert, organ. Paris Select

Choir, Rend Leibowitz, cond.

Oceanic ocs 37. 12-in. 31 min. $5.95.

This curiosity is one of many sacred works
written by Liszt about the time (1865) he
was taking the first degrees in the Francis-
can order ("Mephistopheles disguised as
an AbW). Modestly scored for four-part
choir and organ, rhe Mass was apparently
designed for regular liturgical use. Like
much nineteenth century music that strove
to be both dramatic and religious, rhe Mass
is neither. Only where he can develop the
music freely through repetition of the words
is Liszt at all successful, and the Benedictus
and Sanctus achieve a devotional mood
through slow sustained chordal wriring and
a knowledgeable handling of voices. As a
sample of one phase of Liszt's creative
activity, the recording is valuable, however,
and Oceanic had good reason to issue this
disk.

The performance under the versatile Mr.
Leibowitz seems first-rate, even if the 16-
voice choir has pitch trouble in the a cappella
sections. Mechanically the recording is
adequate, without the surface noise found
on some other Oceanic issues. R. E.

LOEILLET

Sonata /or Harpsichord and Violin No. 10
in B Flat

Sonata /or Harpsichord and Cello No. 12,

in F Sharp Minor
Trio Sonatas /or Harpsichord, Violin and
Cello: No. 2, in B Minor; No. 13, in G

Ruggero Gerlin (hpcdt, George Ales (vn),
Pierre Coddee (vo).

L'Oiseau-Lyre 50018. 12-in. 10, 11, n,
10 min. $5.95.

Originally these pieces by the talented
46

Walloon utilized violas da gamba and d'amor
for the cello and violin on the record. West-
minster has already produced the Trio
Sonata No. 2 with a flute in the d'amore
part. Lully was dead and Bach ungrown
when Loeillct wrote much of his music,
which has the ambiguity of a transitional
period. He was a grave fellow even in his
sport, but a deft contrapuntist of simple
melodies of individual construction. The
four works presented hete, generally con-
templative and resrrained, receive a per-
formance of objective coolness, clear but
aloof and well-groomed. Tidy, unobtru-
sive sound. C. G. B.

MENDELSSOHN

Concerto /or Two Pianos and Orchestra in
E Major; Capriccio Brillant, /or piano
and orchestra. Op. 22

Orazio Frugoni (both works) and Eduard
Mrazek, piano. Pro Musica Symphony,
Vienna, Hans Swarowsky, cond.
Vox PL 8350. 12-in. 27, 10 min. $5.95.

Mendelssohn's E Major Two-Piano Con-
certo, like its A Flat Major counterpart
(available on Vox PL 7400), seems well worth
the trouble taken to unearth it (see the May
issue of High Fidelity). Dating from 1823,
rhe work is little short of miraculous as the
creation of a 14-year-old boy. The shrewd
disposition of the scoring for the two
pianos and orchestra is maturely expert,
setting off each element to advantage. The
first movement is the least memorable of
the three; the second is quite dramatic in
spite of its slow tempo and long-lined
melodies, and it abounds in inventive
decorative devices; the final Allegro is
almost as jolly and brilliant as anything
Mendelssohn ever wrote. Curiously enough,
rhe Concerto sounds more in the composer's
maturer sryle rhan does the Capriccio Bril-
lant, composed in i832. A typical combina-
tion of slow introduction and fast single
movement, the Capriccio suggests Weber in
its light-hearted gaiety and superficial dis-
play. The performances in both cases are
spirited and stylish, even sparkling on oc-
casion, although Mr. Frugoni makes a
puzzling rhyrhmic alteration in the triplet

Maurice Hewitt: a Mozart D Minor con-
certo vital and dire in its masculine accents.

figure of the Capriccio' s main theme. The
brilliant acoustics have almost too much
echo for my taste, imparting a brittle
character to portions of the Capriccio. R. E.

MENDELSSOHN

Octet in E Flat Major, Op. 20

The Vienna Octet.

London ll 859. 12-in. $3.9;.

We are accustomed to marvel at Mendel-
ssohn's youthful ingenuity in composing
the Midsummer Night's Dream Overture
when he was only 1 7. Bur this richly melodic
Octet for four violins, two violas and two
'cellos was written almost a year earlier.
Here is an ingratiating work full of warmth
and bubbling good humor, particularly in
its familiar Scherzo. It is here accorded a
bright, high-spirited performance with equal-
ly brighr reproduction that is, however, in-
clined to favor the leading violin just a
trifle too prominently. A thoroughly de-
lightful chamber work to add to any col-
lection. P. A.

MENDELSSOHN

Sonatas /or Organ; Op. 65; No. 1, in F
Minor; No. 3, in A; No. 6, in D Minor.
Prelude and Fugue in C Minor.

John Eggington, organ.

L'Oiseau-Lyre ol 50013. 12-in. i3, 10,

15, 8 min. $5.95.

Mendelssohn wrote comparatively little for
the organ — the six Sonatas in Op. 65,
three Preludes and Fugues in Op. 37, and a
few scattered pieces. Reasonable, fastidi-
ously wrought, strongly influenced by Bach,
the music .offers no problems, no thrills, a
good deal of satisfactory, intelligent, meaty
writing. Mr. Eggington's performances are
keyed to this style — carefully phrased,
rhythmically strict, formally coherent, sim-
ply but clearly registered. The instrument,
the organ of the chapel of the Institut des
Jeunes Aveugles in Paris, is pleasantly reedy.
Except for a couple of quirks apparently
made in joining tapes, the sound is impres-
sive in a clean, balanced, quiet way. Worth-
while as a sampling of Mendelssohn's
organ music. R. E.

MORLEY

Elizabethan Madrigals
Canzonets; Balletts

Blanche Winogron, virginals; The Primavera
Singers of the New York Pro Musica
Antiqua, Noah Greenberg, cond.
Esoteric es 520. 12-in. $5.95.

In matters such as ensemble, interpretation,
diction and pitch, this group leaves little
to be desired. The diction, in fact, is ex-
ceptionally clear, despite the complex in-
terweaving of voices this kind of music
demands.

Regretfully, however, one must report
that in such works as "Sing We and Chant It,"
"My Bonny Lass She Smileth," and "Fire, Fire,
My Heart," the singers produce such
blindingly loud tones as to rob the music of
all delicacy and grace — qualities which
were, after all, the hallmarks of the Eliza-
bethan madrigal and ballett. Granted,
there can be a difference of opinion as to
how this music is to be approached, tonally.
Yet one is tempted to ask what place such
excessively loud singing would have had

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www.americanradiohistorv.com

KLCORDS

in the intimate home setting in which
madrigals were sung.

The other shortcoming of these perform-
ances also has to do with tonal matters,
but of a different sort. It concerns the
different types of tone used by the various
singers in the group, a quality which was
mentioned in these pages in connection
with a previous release by the same organiza-
tion. Too often, as exemplified in the per-
formance of the madrigal "Leave this Tor-
menting" the soprano sings with a straight,
"white" tone, far removed from the rich
vibrato employed by the bass, and from the
"urgent" manner of singing used by the
tenor and counter-tenor. This disparity in
tone by no means pervades all the works.
The baltett "Now is the Month of Maying" is
free from any such blemish. Moreover, the
performances of "Lo, She Flies," "Now is
the Gentle Season" and "The Fields Abroad"
are indeed beautiful examples of madrigal
singing.

The recording itself is excellent. There is a
nice amount of space around the singers,
and this is achieved without any loss of
clarity. However, the two-part canzonet
"I Go Be/ore, My Darling" seems to have
been recorded at a greater distance than the
other works on the disk.

The incidental virginals intetludes, sen-
sitively performed by Blanche Vinogron, are
charming. They are recorded with a close-
ness that lets you hear even the action of the
small keyboard. D. R.

MOZART

Concerto for Piano No. 20, in D Minor,

KV 466

Concerto for Piano No. 23, in A, kv 488

Marcel Meyer; Hewitt Orchestra, Paris,
Maurice Hewitt, cond.
Haydn Society 88. 12-in. }i, 25 min.
*5 95-

A valuable collaboration in a record of
patent high value. Miss Meyer is excellent
in Mozatt, and to her sure musicianship is
added the benefit of close, realistic, resonant
piano recording. She is better in the quick
movements than in the slow, both the stow
movements here requiring a delicacy of
statement not ptoffeted by pianist or or-
chestta. In compensation, the D Minor
Concerto is dire in the masculine accents of
the participants, and the engineers have
captured the acrid quality of the scoring
more completely than we can hear in any
other disk. The sneering nasal commentary
of the wind is notable in a preservation of
distinctness for every instrument. Com-
pelling in overall effect, the record of both
concertos to be preferred by those to whom
sound is first; and high on the list of per-
formances consideted exclusively as such.

C. G. B.

MOZART

(Le) Nozze di Figaro (skeletal)

Soloists and Netherlands Philharmonic Or-
chestra, Walter Goehr, cond.
MMS 2010. 12-in. 56 min. 12.50.

A number of cheap recotds are good and
have been welcomed here. Certain standard
works issued at a very low price by this same
Musical Masterpiece Society are decidedly
commendable. The present edition, at

June, 1954

Rudolf Sertin: no need for another version
of the Mozart and Beethoven wind quintets.

once too pretentious and too humble, is not.
Theediring is atrocious and the singing best
when it is mediocre. Mr. Goehr seems to
have lazed and the orchestra not to have re-
hearsed. The printed text is in laughable
confusion, the English translation is pre-
carious, and the Italian language as sung is
hardly Tuscan. The sound is pretty good
except for some hardness and some hum.

C. G. B.

MOZART

Quintet for Piano and Winds, in E Flat,
kv 452

fBeethoven: Quintet for Piano and
Winds, Op. 16

Rudolf Serkin (pf), John de Lancie (ob),

Anthony Giglotti (ct), Sol Schoenbach

(bn), Mason Jones (hn).

Columbia ml 4834. 12-in. 26, 25 min.

J5-95-

The works have been favored for recotding
recently, and the natutal combination, the
consummate Mozart backed by the promis-
ing Beethoven, has alteady appeared on
another disk. After this one, there will be
no need for further duplication. Others
may play differently, but it is hatd to under-
stand how others could play this music
better. For animated, perspicacious refine-
ment, tonal allure and equipoised delivery,
wrapped in fresh, unhampered, glossy and
immaculate sonics, there are no records of a
comparable group superior to this one.
Mr. Serkin, who has not been generally
lucky in his records, cannot complain of the
phonograph here, nor we of him. C. G. B.

MOZART

Trio No. 3, in E, kv 542
Trio No. 4, in C, kv 548

Paul Badura-Skoda (pf), Jean Fournier (vn),
Antonio Janigro (vo).

Westminster wl 5267. 12-in. 20, 21 min.
1595-

The disk brings to four the number of Mo-
zart Trios recotded by these players, and it
is to be presumed that another will follow.
Because they are pleasant but lesser Mozart,
the Trios will provoke no tumult of en-

thusiasm, but the edition is notable for the
beauty of its playing and recording, both
relaxed and natural. The pianist particularly,
with the major part, is gracious and limpid,
symmetrical without rigidity in his com-
fortable projection, and his colleagues fol-
low his benign and becoming lead. Not a
striking record, but an outstanding one of
its quiet type. C. G. B.

PAGANINI

Quartet in E Major — See Kreisler.
PLEYEL

Symphonic Concertnate No. 5, for Flute,

Oboe, Horn, Bassoon and Orchestra
fDittersdorf: Three Partitas for Wind
Quintet

J-P. Rampal (fl), Pierre Pierlot (ob), Gilbert
Coursier (hn), Paul Hongne (bn); Paris
Instrumental Ensemble, Louis de Froment,
cond. (Pleyel). Same without orchestra and
with Jacques Lancelot (cl) in the Partitas.
Oiseau-Lyre 50014. 12-in. 21, 11, 9, 5
min. $5-95-

Pleyel was taught by Haydn and emulated
him, not well. The Sinfonia Cencertante re-
corded here — the first extensive Pleyel on
records — is the routine product of a quali-
fied eighteenth century hack. The Ditters-
dorf Quintets are more imaginative cuts from
a juicier joint, worth hearing in the familiar
expertise of Messrs. Rampal, Pierlot et al.,
but disappointing in the shallow, lifeless
sound of their instruments as the engineers
have thwarted them. C. G. B.

PURCELL

Eight Suites for Harpsichord

Isabelle Nef, harpsichord.

L'oiseau-Lyre ol 5001 1. 12-in. 4, 9, 6,

7, 5, 5, 8, 8 min. $5.95.

In 1696, five years after Purccl's death, his
widow published his Choice Collection of
Lessons for the Harpsichord or Spinnet,
dedicated to Princess Anne. Most of the
volume is occupied by eight Suites, recorded
here in their entirety for the first time on LP.
The Suites also form a major portion of Pur-
cell's meager output for harpsichord, and
even here one of the movements is taken
from his music for the theatre. By no
means the equal of such other of Purcell's
instrumental works as the fantasias for
strings or the trio sonatas, the harpsichord
suites are still more than educational tid-
bits. The three or four movements that
make up each suite are very brief — usually
a prelude followed by such dances as al-
mands, corants, or hornpipes. Their great-
est interest is in the characteristically odd
phtase lengths and in special effects of
sonority and rhythm. The gracious Almand
in Suite No. 8 is particularly worth sampling.

Miss Nef gives straightforward rendi-
tions, of fine rhythmic vitality, occasionally
adopting some questionable rubatos, and
she does not follow standard editions of the
music. Without resorting to heavy registra-
tion, she uses a full tone whose quality is
faithfully captured by the engineers. The
recording happily ignores the intimate func-
tions of the instrument's insides. R. E

RIMSKY-K.ORSAK.OFF
Suite from "Ivan the Terrible" — See
Balakireff.

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

ROSSINI

La Cambiale di Matrimonii)

Angelica Tuccari (s), Fanny; Grazia Ciferi
(s), Clarina; Giuseppe Gentile (t), Edward
Milfort; Nestore Catalani (b), Slook; Gior-
gio Onesti (bs), Sir Tobias Mill; Tito Dol-
ciotti (bs), Norton. Orchesrra della Societa
del Quartetto, Rome; Giuseppe Morelli,
cond.

Period spl 583. 12-in. $5.95.

This is an amusing curiosity for a couple of
rei ons. First, the work has its kicky points,
quite aside from the fact that it is of some
historical interest. Second, the performance,
while not entirely bad, has moments that
are so queasy as to be hilariously funny —
at least to those warped enough to enjoy
other people's musical mishaps. Either way,
the price seems fair enough. Actual invest-
ment is a purely individual matter.

La Cambiale di Matrimonii is a little one-
act buffa whose main distinction is that it is
Rossini's first stage work. Although
maiden efforts are not always as fascinating
or revealing as they are supposed to be,
this one, I think is.

Some of it is merely sprightly wriring
that might have been turned out by any
competent composer circa 1810, but even at
18 Rossini's fine Italian hand applied charac-
teristic touches that are his and his alone.
Questions of manner aside, there is one tune
— dutifully pointed out in the notes — that
the composer self-plagiarized for Dunqut io
son in // Barbiere di Shiglia. Rossini gor off
to a fast start.

The story so honored is rather more fun
than most of the genre. The heroine, stuck
with the depressing but uncharacteristically
buffa name of Fanny, is in love with the
tenor — not an uncommon situation. Her
father, Sir Tobias, does not approve. But
bass fathers never do. Enter gimmick: The
reason Papa doesn't approve of Fanny's
tenor is that she is scheduled to be married
off to a rich Canadian, name of Slook.
Now this Slook, a coonskin-and-homespun
type, has a heart of gold, and when he finds
out The Truth he renounces Fanny with
the nobility of a Sachs. This shames the
greedy Sir Tobias, and all ends happily in
an accelerating stretto. You like that?

The participants in this performance,
labeled (perhaps "branded" would be a bet-
ter word) as of the Compagnia del Teatro
dell'Opera Comica di Roma, are on the
whole, neither good enough to be enjoy-
able nor bad enough to prevent the listener
from finding out what the music is like.
Giuseppe Morelli, the conductor, seems to
have a clear idea of what he wants — a
brisk, somewhat heavily accented presenta-
tion of the score. But he doesn't always —
by any means — get it. The orchestra seems
willing enough but incapable of accuracy
in either ensemble or intonation for very
long at a stretch. The male singers go at
the comedy with a will, clear enunciation,
and at least a broad semblance of style,
but none has sufficient technique to sing
his part all the way through without getting
in hot water. And Angelica Tuccari, whose
voice shows signs of being naturally ap-
pealing, spends a good part of the perform-
ance wandering forlornly around in vain
search of the exact pitch. She and the or-
chestra contribute most of the extra-Rossini
humor. In any case, it isn't boring.

Budapest Quartet: a variety of beautiful
torments in Schubert's valedictory works.

The recording is intimate — sometimes
distressingly so — and live, but the recita-
tive sections seem to have been recorded
separately, over by the piano, and the
splices are not always careful. Libretto in
the side pocket. J. H., Jr.

SCHUBERT

Quartet No. 13, in A Minor, "Rosamunde,"
Op. 29

Quartet No. 14, in D Minor, "Death and

the Maiden"
Quartet No. 1% in G, Op. 161

Budapest Quartet.

Columbia sl 194. Three 12-in. 36, 38, 40
min. $17.85. (A Quartet to a disk, also
separately available.)

There cannot be another album with such
a variety of beautiful tormenr as this. The
initial impression is of a stunning accom-
plishment — almost literally, for the con-
tinuous procession of the sadness and the
fury of Schubert's last three Quartets, in
these performances, incites a neural fever
and mental numbness follows. Overdosed
like this, without respite, the music is
opiate to judgment. There is a confused
memory of mastery, and a clearer recollec-
tion of several movements played to prevent
forgetfulness — the middle movements of
the A Minor, the two last of the D Minor,
the finale of No. 15, vehement in its savage
irony. The rhapsodic anguish of much of all
three Quartets permits an extremity of ex-
pression not bound by tradition; and the
Budapesters, without abandoning their
familiar virtues, drive with a vehemence not
part of their repute. Reproduction has been
kinder to the Stradivari instruments they
use in the Library of Congress recordings
than in previous records: there is more and
better cello, the viola is distinct, and the
violins are not troublesome.

There are other good versions of the
three Quartets, and comparison of all will
be undertaken in the second part of the
Schubert discography, to appear in July.

C. G. B.

SCHUMANN
Fantasia in C Major, 0<>. ij
tBrahms: Variations on an Original
Theme, 0>t. 21, No. 1.

Andor Foldts, piano.

Decca dl 9708. 12-in. 27, 14 min. $5.85.

The long, dramatic, emotional Fantasia is
well served by Mr. Foldes' honest, unob-
trusive playing. Carefully observing all the
dynamic markings, the performance moves
steadily onward without any particular poetic
insights. Pianists' attention should be
called to Mr. Foldes' outstanding pedaling,
a factor of major importance in this stormy

music. The rarely heard Brahms variations,
fascinating as a microcosm of the com-
poser's stylistic devices, have a dryness un-
relieved by the self-effacing, objective play-
ing. In exposing a work as the composer
wrote it, the pianist achieves an admirably
intellectual reading, but a chilly one. Greater
dynamic range and a warmer piano tone
would help, and I do not believe these to
be the fault of the recording, which is
quietly clear. In the Fantasia, one or two
places — a sudden change in volume and
an unnecessarily repeared note — Suggest
poor tape-splicing; but the matter is rela-
tively unimportant. R. E.

SCHUMANN
Humoreske, Op. 20
Sonata in G Minor, Op. 22

Joerg Demus, piano.

Westminster wl 5264. i2-in. 25, 17 min.
$5-95-

Schumann's G Minor Sonata has never
seemed one of his best works, and Mr.
Demus fails to conceal with his sincere
performance the awkwardness and forced
quality of rhe construcrion. There could
not help but be many passages of typically
Schumannesque songfulness, and these the
pianist plays as tenderly as always. Both
composer and artist are wholly in the vein
in the Humoreske, in the first performance on
LP of this fresh, happy scote. Here Mr.
Demus' sensitivity to phrase shapes, voice
balancing, and tone-color illuminate the
myriad imaginative sections that make up
the work. Like the girl with the curl, when
Mr. Demus is good he is very, very good,
and the Humoreske finds him in that state.
Nor, it seems, can Westminster do him
any wrong with its fabulous engineering.

R. E.

SCHUTZ
The Nativity

Nicola Filacuridi, Evangelista; Marica Rizzo,
L'Angelo; Plinio Gablassi, Erode. Solo or-
gan by Gennaro D'Onofrio; chorus directed
by Emilia Gubitosi. Scarlatti Orchestra Di
Napoli, Franco Caracciolo, cond.
Colosseum clps 1034. 12-in. 50 min. $5.95.

This is an especially gratifying work, and
one can be thankful to Colosseum for mak-
ing it available. The music, by a man who
was born exactly one hundred years before
Bach, in 1585, has a warm, human quality,
and makes appealing listening throughout
its length.

Although the recording was made from a
live performance, the coughs are Sufficiently
few, considering the length of the work,
to be not too distracting. A few tape splices
were made necessary by the exigencies of a
live performance, but they too, are not ob-
jectionable. The recording is quite satis-
factory.

The performance is in every way a devoted
one. A special word should be said for the
tenor, Nicola Filacuridi, who gives a par-
ticularly fine account of himself in the long
and taxing role of the Evangelist. D. R.

STRAVINSKY

Le Sacre du Printemps

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William
Steinberg, cond.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

Capitol p 8254. 12-in. 34 mm. $5.70.

One of the best of the numerous recordings
of this famous work. Steinberg's perform-
ance is appropriately dynamic, and Capitol's
engineers have caught many fascinating de-
tails in the immense orchestral fabric which
are often not so well presented on other
disks. A. F.

STRAVINSKY
Pulcinella

Mary Simmons (s), Glenn Schnittke (t),
Phillip MacGregor, (b); Cleveland Orchestra
Igor Stravinsky, cond.
Columbia ml 4830. 12. in. 50 min. S5.95.

Many suites from Pulcinella exist and have
been recorded, but this is the first recording
of the entire score. The suites are lovely,
melodious affairs with a charming old-
Italian bouquet, but the entire score is a
genuine masterpiece that puts the suites
completely in the shade.

Pulcinella is a ballet based on themes by
Pergolesi. Its material is handled with the
wit, creativeness and brilliance which Stra-
vinsky invariably brings to such tight-rope
walking performances. Given a set of melo-
dies by a Neapolitan composer of the early
eighteenth century, he was faced with the

triple problem of welding them into a
modern ballet score, of preserving their
essential character, and of producing a work
that should nevertheless be his own. The
result is a work of sheer genius and one
which, in its full exposition, has a dramatic,
climactic character one would never gather
from the suites. A. F.

TCHAIKOVSKY
The Swan Lake, Op. 20

The Philharmonia Orchestra. Robert Irving,
cond.

Victor Bluebird lbc 1064. 12-in. 55 min.
$2.98.

This excellent recording of Tchaikovsky's
ballet score represents a distinct bargain,
musically and financially. In its 55 minutes
of playing times it presents 18 sections
from the complete work, more than can be
found on any single 12-inch LP record.

What is even more important, it is most
persuasively played by the orchestra under
Irving's fine direction. He gives it pace,
equilibrium, and just the right amount of
airiness the more delicate moments call for.
Yet, in its more grandiose moment, he pro-
duces a spaciousness of atmosphere in
sound that literally makes you "see" the
dancers.

This is easily the best sound I have yet
heard on this label — beautifully balanced,
clean as a whistle, always lively and strongly
resonant. J. F. I.

TCHAIKOVSKY

Symphony No, 2 in C Minor, Op, ij (Little
Russian)

Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra, Nathan Rach-
lin, cond.

tLiadoff: Eight Russian Folk Songs, Op. 5S

Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow
Philharmonic. Kiril Kondrashin, cond.
A440 AC 1204. 12-in. 50 min. S5.95.

A first version of this early symphony met
with great success, when performed in
Moscow in 1873, but for reasons unknown
the score was never published. The second
version appeared some nine years later, and
whatever changes the composer had made,
as experienced a critic as Taneiff found the
original far more agreeable.

The symphony is something of a hodge-
podge of nebulous ideas, which Tchaikov-
sky, at that time, seemed unable to develop.
Some of them may be found in the later
symphonies, elaborated and developed with
the composer's mature mastery. The in-

Soft Colors and Sweet Sanity from the Venice of Vivaldi

Barchet

Among the composers given un-
precedented currency in America by
the gush from the LP mint, Antonio
Vivaldi, the interesting "red priest"
who became the greatest musical
glory of Venice, has flourished as
much as any of those who had been
obscure. More famous in his life
than his contemporary Bach whom
he influenced, the extinction of his
fame was as thorough and his name
had to wait longer for resurrection.

Phonographically the principal im-
pressario of the Vivaldi revival has
been Vox. A third of the LP's of
the composer have been issued under
the imprimatur of this company,
which shows a laudable desire to avoid
chaos in the issuance. Thus the twelve Concert! Grossi of the
Euro armonico appear as a unit in PL 7423, and the twelve violin con-
certos of the Stravaganza under consideration here are soothing
to a sense of order and they facilitate selection. (The common
rule for Vivaldi LP's is to assemble his work with that of someone
else, or if the record is exclusively of V., to offer a miscellany of
works of different types.)

Musical nomenclature, the most aberrant of languages, presents
its familiar frustrations in La Stravaganza. We do not know why
the music was called that, and the 12 violin concertos are far from
the concept of concerto that Mozart and Beethoven imposed
upon the world. A solo violin is used, generally in alternation,
with a small orchestra of strings and continuo; there are invariably
three movements in the scheme of fast — slow — fast; the concerto-
grosso style persists in the occasional alliance of other strings
with rhe solo violin to comprise a concertino playing against the
body of the orchestra; and music-lovers will be struck by the fasr
proleptic resemblance to much of the instrumental music of J. S.
Bach. This is a matter of melody, rhythm above all, and ornamenta-
tion: the North German's polyphony was not for Vivaldi.

As in so much of the music of this period, the various concertos
seem at first to imitate each other, but a few hearings serve to
show rhat the likenesses are superficial and are of style, not ma-
terial. The designs and moods are implied and not asserted in this
music; and the color, subdued by the restricted orchestra, beams
in diverse subtleries of demure shades.

Reinhardt

The musicians whose talents are
engraved have been for long familiar
under Vox's sponsorship, and they
have frequently fatigued this critic
by dutiful, earthbound interpretations
of the brilliant, aristocratic clarity of
the peerless musical period from the
beginning of the American Revolu-
tion to the end of the French: from
Lexington to Leipzig. A Careful
rigidity marks their work in rococo,
but in baroque the same kind of
playing reveals a probity of outlook
and stroke altogether appropriate;
and what is stiff in the first is supple
in the second. Mr, Barchet, the solo
violin, is admirably reticent, and his
strings are touched with silver, in his

acquiescene in the suave shapes of the Vivaldi concertos; while
Mr. Reinhardt, conducting, whom Mozart numbs with veneration,
is kindled by Vivaldi to a grateful glow. Everything is gravely
natural and apt, without a degree of showiness or hesitation, re-
minding the hearer of the straight, undisturbed and manly projec-
tion of the Handel Organ Concertos conducted also by Mr. Rein-
hardt for Vox.

Reproduction on a good instrument will be insinuatingly eu-
phonious once the compensator has stifled the faint wiry shimmer
of the solo violin. Indeed the tone of this string orchestra, with
a short and resolute reverberation from the hall, gives a solid plea-
sure of its own, with the harpsichord nicely blended and the solo
instrument never aggressively eminent. — Sound-systems without
separate tweeters will confront no difficulty from shimmer.

The notes are worth a nore. Srudiously and thoroughly compiled
by Mr. Joseph Braunstein. they offer a biographical sketch of the
composer, an outline of the Italian musical condition of his time
and a formal analysis of La Stravaganza in accord with the serious-
ness of the undertaking, C. G. Burke

VIVALDI: La Stravaganza

(Twelve Concertos for Violin and Strings, Op. 4).

Reinhold Barchet; Pro Musica String Orchestra, Stuttgart, Rolf

Reinhardt, cond.

Vox dl io3. Three i2-in. 11, 12, 10, 10, 11, 11, 10, 8, 10, 10,
8, 12 min. Si 8. 50.

June, i 954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

fluence of Russian folk music is quite ap-
parent, indeed the subtitle derives from
his use of such themes, and for a second
movement he has extracted from his opera
Undine a wedding march. Perhaps only in
the fourth movement does the composer
seem to feel completely at home, but this
hardly outweighs the deficiencies of the
earlier movements.

This is a vigorous, but hardly brilliant
performance. The orchestral work is often
slovenly, and the sound distinctly mediocre,
suffering from veiling and poor balance.
The surfaces on my copy were extremely
gritty.

The Liadoff, a diverse collection of Russian
folk songs, is agreeable as well as innocu-
ous. J. F. I.

TCHAIKOVSKY

Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36

Symphony Orchestra of Radio Leipzig,

Herman Abendroth, cond,

Urania ur-rs 7-25. 12-in. 39 min. $3.50.

A good, blustering, rough and ready per-
formance by Abendroth and his men. The
conductor has a few strange ideas as to
dynamics and tempi, though, on the whole,
these are not blatant enough to be offensive.
With a better orchestra than the one at his
disposal here, the results could be quite
engrossing. As it is, the Radio Leipzig
group cannot produce the effects for which
the conductor obviously is striving, nor
respond with the fire his energetic direction
demands.

The shrill Urania sound, calling for strong
treble de-emphasis, is no great asset, par-
ticularly as the bass is light and pallid. J. F. I.

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Old King Cole: Ballet Suite.
The Wasps (Incidental music to the play
by Aristophanes.)

Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra. Sir
Adrian Boult, cond.

Westminster wl 5228. 12-in. 44 min.
JV95.

The overture to Vaughan Williams' The
Wasps has been a favorite of long standing,
though why the rest of this blithely gay
suite should have been neglected is a little
difficult to fathom. It is such a buoyant
score, showing no traces of the Greek in-
fluence one might expect from its title, but
liberally spiced with English folk-tune in-
fluences of the kind we have come to expect
from the eminent English composer. Like
his legendary predecessor, Vaughan Wil-
liams' Old King Cole is a very merry soul.
Genial would be the best word for this
completely bright and attractive suite.
Again Westminster's engineers have suc-
ceeded in transcribing a clear and brilliant
sound, that reproduces most faithfully the
sound of the Philharmonic Promenade Or-
chestra. Boult's painstaking direction, and
the expert playing of his orchestra make
these a delightful gambol. J. F. I.

VILLA LOBOS
Rude Poeme

The Children's Doll Suite
The Three Maries

Jacques Abram.

EMS 10. 12-in. 18, 15, 6 min. $5.95.
50

Why Villa Lobos' Portuguese title. Rude-
piema, should be translated into bad French
as Rude Poime is not immediately clear; the
title in English should be Savage Poem, but
there is less savagery than flashiness in this
long, rhapsodic, harmonically timid affair,
which was written to provide Artur Rubin-
stein with what Virgil Thomson calls a
"wow number." The second side of the
record is musically far superior. The Three
Maries and the Children's Doll Suite (which
Villa Lobos calls O PrSle de Blbi, or The
Child s Family) are studies in Brazilian folk-
lore of a very charming and effective kind.
Especially colorful and sensitive are rhe
Child's Family pieces, wherein, under such
titles as Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Witch
Doll, and Negro Doll, Villa Lobos explores
widely among the characteristic folk rhythms
and melodies of his country and creates
first-rate piano music in the process. Ex-
cellent performance, good recording. A. F.

COLLECTIONS AND
MISCELLANY

AMERICAN MUSIC FOR FLUTE

Doriot Anthony, flute; Barbara Korn, piano.
Claremont cr 1205. 12-in. $5.95.

Three works are included on this disk: a
sonata by Walter Piston (17 minutes),
lngolf Dahl's Variations on a Swedish Folk
Tune for flute unaccompanied (12 minutes),
and a Lullaby (four minutes) by Jacob
Avshalomoff. The Piston is a work of great
elegance, restraint, and clatity. The Dahl is
an extremely ingenious and ebullient affair,
its involvements conveying the under-cur-
rent of humor and whimsicality which seems
to be typical of the work of this Los Angeles
composer. The Avshalomoff is a simple,
brief, lyrical piece whose character is indi-
cated by its title. What is most remarkable
about this record is Miss Anthony's magnifi-
cent playing, which has been flawlessly re-
corded. Miss Anthony, first flutist of the
Boston Symphony, is not only a sensitive
and brilliant musician but one who seems to
have discovered many new resources in her
instrument. Rarely, if ever, has one heard
so wide a range of dynamics and so rich a
gamut of color as rhat which she commands.

A. F.

RAPHAEL ARIE: Russian Arias

Raphael Arie' (bs); L'Orchestre de la Soci&e'
des Concerts du Conservatoite de Paris;
Alberto Erede, cond.
London LD-9074. 10-in. $2.95.

Borodin: J hate a dreary life, (Prince Galit-
zky's aria), from Prince Igor. Glinka: They
guess the truth (Ivan Sussanin's aria), from A
Life for the Czar. Rimsky-Korsakoff: Song
of the Viking Guest, from Sadko. Tchai-
kovsky: Everyone knows love on earth (Prince
Glaitzky's aria), from Eugene Onegin.

Raphael Arie' is a youngish Yugoslav-
Israeli bass who first came to prominence in
Italy about six seasons ago. Subsequently
he made some quite impressive recordings
for London and was engaged to sing with
the New York City Opera Company, where

he made a creditable but not brilliant im-
pression. As such modest successes usually
do, he returned forthwith to Italy. There he
fell afoul of the boom in talented young
basses headed by Nicolo Rossi-Lemeni,
Boris Christoff, and Cesare Siepi; at present
he functions in somewhat secondary status
at La Scala in Milan. Result: Devaluation to
the $2.95-per-ten-inches class. At that price
he is a bargain, for if he is not theatrically
the equal of his higher-bracket competitors
he is a thoroughly competent singer whose
voice records rather flatteringly, and his
performances on this record are reputable,
idiomatic representations of the music. Al-
berto Erede's accompaniments are good, and
the sound, clean and immediate, with ade-
quate theatrical presence, is upper-drawer
ffrr. Good notes; no texts. J. H., Jr.

ARTE CLASICO FLAMENCO — Vol. I

Carlos Montoya, guitar.
PHILHARMON1A PH 108. 12-in. $5 95-

This reviewer can find nothing but praise
for this exciting record. On the one hand,
the performance is superb — Montoya's vir-
tuosity at the age of 74 is sufficient to make
men half his age turn green with envy, while
his phrasing, warmth, and ability to pro-
ject would be difficult indeed to match.
Along with all this, we have a superlative
recording that is a model of clarity and
fidelity. Gonzalo Segura. Jr.

COMEDY IN MUSIC
Victor Borge

Columbia cl 554. 12-in. $3.95.

Sooner or later the current penchant for
recording live, spontaneous performances
was bound to catch up with Victor Borge of
Denmark, for Mr. Borge is one of the live-
liest, spontaneous performers ever to be
nudged from behind by a spinning piano
stool.

Born in Copenhagen, he was a prodigy at
.10, a concert pianisr at i3. His professional
career, however, suffered from a glaring
handicap: an inability to take the whole
thing seriously. Once, during the perform-
ance of Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Con-
certo, Borge's quivering eyebrows brought
such a ripple of snickers from the audience
that the conductor became disconcerted and
began to accelerate the pace. Suddenly
Borge got up, calmly walked to the podium
and turned the score back three pages. He
then bowed to the orchestra, winked at the
audience and returned to the piano. This
instinct for comedy drew him more and more
into variety entertainment until finally he gave
up the concerr stage altogether to become
one of the most popular comedians in Den-
mark. During the 1930s he could not re-
frain from lampooning Europe's bully-boy,
Adolph Hitler, and his gang, an activity
which placed him high on the Nazi list of
undesirables. However, when Denmark fell
in 1940, Borge was fortunately in Finland,
Having no desire to be the No. 1 enter-
tainer in Buchenwald, he came to the U. S.
In a freer climate he emerged, at first slowly
and then rapidly, as one of America's most
successful entertainers.

This record is a composite of three per-
formances by Borge given in October,
1953 at the Schubert Theatre in Bosron.
Earlier in the month, at the time his one

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

man show opened in New York, Brooks
Atkinson of the New York Times minced no
words by stating that Mr. Borge is the
"funniest entertainer in the world," adding
that "what he wants, even though it may be
only money, he deserves to get."

Whether he wants them or not, the thing
he gets most of are laughs, as the audience
on this record demonstrates with contagious
regularity. Although he plays an unusually
long medley of popular tunes and uses one
of his "acts" (wherein he plays a simple
theme in a burlesque of the "style" of several
composers) most of the record consists of a
long chatty dialog between Borge and
himself. Example: before beginning the
Warsaw Concerto he pauses with the com-
ment that he has to wind his self-winding
watch. Five minutes and several laughs
later he is still winding it, concluding with
the announcement that in one minute it
will be high tide in Honolulu. And so it
goes — on and on. R. H. H.,Jr.

LES COMPAGNONS DE LA CHAN-
SON

Angel abl 64000. 10-in. $4.95.

Familiar to TV viewers for their "Leetle
Jawnee Brown," here Les Compagnons dem-
onstrate they can sing something else, and
do it very well. This is a real fun group;
with no need of excuse for its existence
than its contagious ebullience, I daresay a
good portion of the charm of these latter-
day minnesingers would be lost without the
superb reproduction tendered them in this
disk. Listen to what they do with "Moulin
Rouge." Their heady lyricism lifts it out
of the old chestnut classification with dis-
patch. And "La Chanson du Celibataire"
(The Bachelor's Song) made me think I
was one again. W, B. S.

CONCERT MUSIC FOR ORGAN AND
CHIMES

Ellsasser: Icarus, A Tone Poem. Russell,
Alexander: St. Lawrence Sketches — The Citadel
at Quebec; The Bells 0/ Ste. Anne de Beaupri;
The Song of the Basket Weaver; Up the Sague-
nay. Vierne: Carillon de Westminster.

Richard Ellsasser, organ.

MGM E 3o66. 12-in. 7, 8, 9, 4, 9, 8 min.

$4-85.

ORGAN MUSIC BY MODERN COM-
POSERS

Bartok: En Bateau. Britten: Prelude and Fugue
on a Theme by Vittoria. Copland: Episode.
Cowell: Processional. Hindemith: Sonata
No. 2. Messiaen: Le Banquet Cileste. Mil-
haud: Pastorale. Thomson: Pastorale on a
Christmas Plainsong. Vaughan Williams:
Chorale Prelude on the Welsh Hymn "Hyfry-
dol."

Richard Ellsasser, organ.

MGM e 3064. 12-in. 4, 6, 5, 3, i3, 6, 3,

6, 3 min. $4.8;.

Mr, Ellsasser is in his element in the record
called Concert Music for Organ and Chimes.
In the highly pictorial St. Lawrence Sketches,
the organ is asked to suggest chanting choirs,
rushing waters, distant horizons, etc., and
the performer produces graphic effects with
astonishing virtuosity and a keen ear for
registrational imitations. I mean it as a
compliment when I suggest that Mr.

June, 1954

Ellsasser would have made an ideal organist
for the old silent films. The Sketches; the
Vierne fantasy on the familiar Big Ben
chimes; and the organist's Icarus, based on a
poem by Earl Marlatt (What have chimes to
do with Icarus?) are lushly harmonized
works, interesting only for their coloristic
devices. On my record the listing of rhree
Sketches is all fouled up: Side I, Band 3,
should be The Bells of St. Anne; Side 2,
Band t, Song of the Basket Weaver; Side 2,
Band 2, The Citadel at Quebec.

The disk devoted to modern composers
is a good buy — 49 minutes of stimulating
music, even when irritaringly sentimentalized
by Mr. Ellsasser. The Bartok is an oddity,
a satiral sketch about seasickness. The
fugue in Britten's piece is closely written,
quite lovely. Copland's aptly labeled Episode
is unmistakably in his style, but Cowell's
brilliant Processional is not. In neither his
adventurous nor folkish manner, it could be
by any conservative academic composer.
The Hindemith sonatas are, of course,
among the best contemporary works for
organ. Messiaen's formless, mystical drool-
ing pales beside Milhaud's ever-fresh vi-
tality. The artful, simplicity of Thomson's
work makes for good sport, and Vaughan
Williams' chorale-prelude is both familiar
and expert. Listed as Volume 1, the disk
presupposes further contributions from Mr.
Ellsasser in this field.

The organist again plays on the instru-
ment of the John Hays Hammond Museum,
and the MGM engineering is characteristic —
wide in range but a little rough in spots. R.E.

INEZ MATTHEWS SINGS SPIRIT
UALS

Great New Voices of Today — Vol. 6.

'Roun' About de Mountain; Hear de Lambs A-
Cryin?; LiT Boy; Talk About a Chile; Lord,
I Didn't Know; Newborn Again; Gonna Ride
Up in de Chariot; Crucifixion; Balm in Gilead;
His Name So Sweet; Fix Me, Jesus; I'm Goin'
to Tell God; Po' Pilgrim; You're Tired; Live a
Humble; Hold On; They Led My Lord Away;
Witness; By and Through de Lamb; Gospel
Train; Plenty Good Room.

Inez Matthews, mezzo-soprano; Jonathan
Brice, piano.

Period spl 580. 12-in. 53 min. $5.95.

Titling this series "Great New Voices of
Today" is a singularly tasteless gimmick,
calling for a curl of the lip. However, let
there be no lip-curling at Miss Matthews.
Leaving aside such meaningless words as
"great" and "new," her voice is extra-
ordinarily distinctive, and she has built a
following as loyal as it is unconventional.
While still very young, she was selected to
sing the lead in Billy Rose's Carmen Jones.
Then she got the feminine lead, opposite
Todd Duncan, in the Kurt Weill-Maxwell
Anderson Lost in the Stars. Goddard Lieber-
son chose her as the Serena in his uncut
Columbia Porgy and Bess, and Virgil Thorn-
son made her St. Therese I in his revival of
Four Saints in Three Acts. This is a striking
variety of honors, low-to-middle-to-high-
brow. Miss Matthews won them through a
liberal application of brains, a brilliant feel-
ing for drama, a natural vocal limpidity and
a trick of delivery, sparingly used, hard to
describe but equally hard to resist, a sort of
educated scoop which invests her full voice

with a remarkable sobbing quality. In these
spirituals, it is electrifying. It is also exactly
right. I know of no record of spirituals so
convincing or so moving as this one. To
put yourself ro the test, hear her sing
Balm in Gilead, and feel the history in it.
The recording is, for its purposes, practically
perfect, intimate and high in level.

Something should be said about Miss
Matthews' other reason for success, her
brother and teacher, Edward Matthews, a
wonderfully genial and able singer (Jake
the Fisherman in the two first presentations
of Porgy, and in both recordings; St. Ig-
narius in both presentations of Four Saints).
The week this record was issued, his car
skidded off a Virginia highway. He was
killed. J. M. C.

GREGORIAN CHANTS — VOL. 3

Benedictine Monks of St. Wandrille De
Fontenille, Dom Lucien David, director.
Period spl 576. 12-in. $5.95.

A great deal of present day knowledge of
Gregorian Chant is the result of the efforts
of Dom Joseph Pothier (1835-1923), who
in 1898 was appointed abbot of St. Wandrille.
He was one of the pioneers of the movement
begun at Solesmes for the study and reform
of plain-song. His first important work on
Gregorian melodies, which appeared in
1880, became the recognized text book on
the subject. In 1904, Pope Pius X appointed
Dom Pothier president of the commission
for editing and publishing the musical por-
tions of the Roman liturgy. He was given
the responsibility for preparing the official
Vatican Editions of early church music.

Period now honors him by means of this
recording, made at the abbey in which he
worked. Most of the music on the record
consists of original works or adaptations by
Dom Pothier. There are also two works by
Dom Lucien David.

As the jacket notes point out: "The
singers on this disk are not professionals
but monks heard in the performance of
their duties." This fact contributes to the
general acceptability of the disk, since the
performances are full of obvious devotion.

By and large, the music on this record lacks
the severity of feeling that one often associ-
ates with Gregorian Chant. In fact, the
group of six "Songs of Mary" have an
almost secular feeling.

The recording itself, aside from what
appear to be two slightly defective tape
splices, is fine. The acoustics are obviously
suggestive of an abbey, with its openness
of sound; yet the microphones were set
close enough to the monks so that one can
hear the intake of breath. A special word
should be said for the very quiet surfaces.

D. R.

JANICE HARSANYI SINGS FRENCH
AND GERMAN SONGS

Great New Voices of Today — Vol. I.

Bachlet: Chire nuit. Faure': Nell; Rencontre.
Franck: Le Mariage des roses. Debussy:
Beau soir; Mandoline. Ravel: Sainte. Duparc:
Chanson triste. Schumann: Mondnacht;
Schone Wiege meiner Leiden; Stille Tranen.
Brahms: Immer leiser wird mem Schlummer;
Es hingder Reif. Strauss: Die Nacht; Zueig-
nung.

Janice Harsanyi (s); Otto Herz, piano.
Period spl 581. 12-in. $5.95.

www.americanradiohistorv.com

R£COHl>S

As if making a debut recording were nor
enough of a strain, Period has captioned
this disk and its envelope: "Great New
Voices of Today, Vol. I." It would be only
coo easy to fashion a one-phrase steamroller
review and let the maccer drop there. The
title fairly begs for such treatment. The
singing doesn't.

Quite seriously, labeling of this kind
seems hardly fair to either the singer or the
prospective buyer, still less to the owners of
future Grear Voices captured in the grooves
(or toils) of this series. Of the three, the
prospective buyer is best able to protect
himself. At least, the shopper in the audio
market who falls prey to such juicy over-
promotion deserves sympathy only because
he is likely to spend the rest of his hi-fi life
either in a state of disillusioned chagrin at
the perfidy of man or in a state of credulous
bliss where all cats to him are neither black
nor gray but pure, unspotted white with
china-blue eyes.

The singer's spot is tougher. Critics —
and, in the end, every record buyer is his
own critic, nor only of recordings but of
critics — are vain creatures, ever jealous of
their perogative to discover their own Greats
and Greatesrs. I know that this particular
writing-variety critic had one simple reaction
on spelling out to himself the words "Great
Voices of Today — Vol. I." He thought,
almost audibly, "Show Me." Then he felt
guilty for having had so un-Olympian a
thought. But he is not, like most critics, a
hateful, ill-natured creature. On the con-
trary, he is kind, good, understanding;
honest, of course, but discerning.

And as for the Subsequent Great Voices,
from Vol. II to the end of Petiod, God help
them. If they were to turn out to be greater
than Janice Harsanyi — yea, greater even
than Malibtan, Patti, Lilli Lehmann, and
Margaret Ttuman molded into one throat —
critical vanity would still be piqued at the
label. And if they turn out to be Voices
not quite so Great, well . . . Such presumption!
Or to put it more to the point most likely
to be understood where it will do Some
good: Such lousy salesmanship.

To tell the truth, as nearly as I am able
to make out. Miss Harsanyi is a rather at-
tractive singer. Young (25, by the dara
prinred) and pleasant to look at, with an
open, candid expression (to judge by a pic-
ture, presumably of her), she has a voice that
would be above average in a typical New
York season of debutant recitalists, sub-
classification soprano. And that is how she
sings. The voice sounds to be of moderate
size, quite healthy enough for anything she
underrakes here. Ir is attractively warm and
firm in its middle and lower segments, al-
most exceptionally so, but without chesti-
ness. She does not invariably get through
the passage into her head voice without
bumps, but that is hardly a patented flaw.
Her breath is sufficient. She generally hits
pitches on the nose. She has no coloratura
to sing, so nothing can be said of her ability
in that line. The main fault that sticks in
memory has to do with top tones: Full
voice, they tend to an uncomfortable open-
ness and lack of supported resonance; at
piano or less they are more artractive, but
whiten out and aten't quite steady on open
vowels. Maybe a wobble is on the way,
maybe not. Interpretatively, she seems well-
taught, unaffected, and accurate. She seems
to like singing. Sometimes she seems spon-

taneously musical, sometimes less so. Her
German diction is pretty good; her French
is as good as chat of most young recitalists,
but that is saying precious little in positive
praise.

In short, Miss Harsanyi is gifted with a
good voice, shows reasonable talent, and
has obviously applied herself. The only
reason for so detailed a review is to point
out that this is a young singer with credits
and debits the same as hundreds of others.
She is certainly worth heating. She certainly
deserves a chance. It is even remotely pos-
sible that her record is worth five dollars
and ninecy-five cents. Obviously someone
thinks so, even if I don't. But it is difficult
to believe that she will benefit from having
been brought, still unformed, to public
notice under such immodest auspices. She
should be trying for National Federation of
Music Clubs prizes, not competing, at least
yet, on equal artistic and economic terms
with singers like Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
Someone should tell her so, and ocher
record-bedazzled young musicians might
eavesdrop.

The accompaniments of Octo Herz are
solidly professional. Engineering: Stan-
dard, close, adequately resonant studio-type
of good grade. English translations ate
provided, but not the texts as sung. J. H., Jr.

MUSIQUIZ

100 Famous Themes

Produced by Berbard Lebow.
Period spl 600. 12-in. $5.95.

If the number and popularity of quiz pro-
grams on radio and television can be used
as a guide, this record is predestined to sell.
Briefly, it contains 100 musical themes
gtouped in the following categories: Over-
tutes; Symphonies; Concettos; Descriprive
Pieces; Ballet; Nationalistic; Encores; Sounds
of the Insttuments; and Miscellaneous.
They are presented in such a way as to make
a parlor game, complete with scotecard,
out of testing your MQ. Corny as it may
sound, it actually ptoves quite entertaining,
and would probably have been more so if
the recording had been better. Identifying
the themes, as well-known as they are, will
be tricky for the musical neophytes; initiates
should have little trouble. However, Mr.
William Avar, owner of Period Records
whose enthusiasm is behind this project, is
bound to stump the experts sooner or later.
He is planning a series of 10 Musiquiz
albums which will eventually include 1,000
musical themes. Let's hope, however, that
a little more attention is paid to engineering
in future issues. R. H. H., Jr.

NEW YORK 19

Recorded, edited and narrated by Tony
Schwartz

Folkways 58. 12-in. $6.45.

This record is rhe result of eight years'
snooping around New York's postal district
19 with a tape recorder in one hand and a
very Candid microphone in the other. The
snooper, Tony Schwartz, and his rather
strange hobby, have been described at
greater length in the May High Fidelity.
Although the conception and title of the
record give the impression that it consists
mostly of urban folklore, ir should be
pointed out that the record is for the most

part music, most of it excellent. Gospel
singers, street musicians, children, night
club singers and just plain city folk all
contribute to a moving and spontaneous
collection of folk music. One number in
particular, "Joy to the World," sung with
irresistible spirit in a Negro gospel church
one Sunday morning before Christmas, is a
startling experience.

If noching else, New York 19 serves as
a reminder to keep our ears open the next
time we are called upon to brave the New
York crowds. R. H. H., Jr.

ROBERTA PETERS — "Youngest Mem-
ber of a Great Tradition."

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor: Regnava
nel silenzio. Linda di Camounix: 0 luce di
quest anima. Bellini: / Puritani: Sonvergin
vezzosa; 0 rendetemi la speme and Qui la voce;
Vien, diletto. La Sonnambula: L'anello mio
and Ah! Non credea mirarti; Ah! Non giunge.

Roberta Peters (s). RCA Victor Orchestra;
Renato Cellini, cond.

Thomas Mignon: lo son Titania.

Luisa Terrazzini (s). Orchesrra and con-
ductor unspecified.

Rossini // Barbiere di Sitig/ia: Una voce
poco fd.

Amelita Galli-Curci (s). Orchestra and
conductor unspecified.

Delibes Lakmi: La has. dans la forSt.

Lily Pons (s). Orchestra and conductor
unspecified.

RCA Victor lm 1786. i2-in. $5.72.

Since her surprise Metropolitan debut, on
November 17, 1950, when she skipped
charmingly onstage as Zerlina in Don Gio-
vanni, Roberta Peters' career has been,
for better or worse, public property, and
she herself has become a familiar and attrac-
tive figure on the opera-house stage and on
TV and movie screens. She has become a
valuable property, and she has been skillfully
promoted by her manager, Sol Hurok, one
of the most astute star-makers in the music
business. However that may be, her success
is far from being merely the synthetic prod-
uct of canny adverrising. There are no indi-
cations so far that she is the kind of early-
blossoming coloratura who charms for a
few brief seasons and then withers away
when maturity robs her voice of its natural
adolescent flexibility and exposes the lack
of a teally sound technique. She is a serious,
hard-working, disciplined singer, intelligent
and well trained. In all the roles she has
sung so far the pattern has been one of
sready maturation — of an initial command
of grammatical problems growing into in-
creasingly fluent technical control and in-
creasingly meaningful characterization. Yet
— quite aside from the semanric question of
whether "members" are properly the com-
ponents of "traditions" — it is decidedly
questionable rhat she is yet ready to be
presented on records with quite the gradilo-
quently optimistic labeling she receives here.

Miss Perers, for all her charm, is still un-
formed as an artist, and the fact that RCA
Victor has done a bit of card-stacking in
selecting representations of the other mem-
bers of the Red Seal tradition they recognize
as great does not alter her essential naivete'

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

building your record library

number nine

THE HIGH FIDELITY STAFF TRIES TO SELECT
TEN HIGH-FIDELITY MUSICAL WARHORSES

In theory, the journalistic silly season does not begin until mid-
summer, but High Fidelity delights in being ahead of the times.
'Twas in the merry month of May, accordingly, that to seven staff
members went a request that each list a choice of "ten basic hi-fi
warhorse" recordings. It was emphasized that these were not to be
test or "noise" disks, but well-known pieces of music from the
standard repertoire, combining excellence of performance with
extraordinary sonic splendor. Each of the men circularized is well
fixed for listening equipment; each has had wide access to records
(partly through borrowing raids on the review-copy shelves). It
was thought that their choices would focus clearly on 10 "basic"
disks, even if there were a slight periphery of disagreement, so to
speak. This was the silly part of the project. Of the seven men,
six turned in lists. And the lists added up to a basic (!) 41.

At that, this figure does not include the whimsy-items — Capi-
tol's Birth of a Baby; Cornell University's frog-croak disk; W. C.
Fields' Temperance Lecture (Jay Records). It does include some musi-
cal selections which no one outside the HF staff might think of
as standard repertoire: 18th Century Lute Trios (Period); Marc-
Antoine Charpentier's Te Deum (Haydn Society); Carlos Montoya's
guitar Flamenca (Cook SOOT).

One famous recording got four votes — Westminster's Haydn
Symphonies 100 ("Military") and 9^. Three received three apiece:
Mercury's first "Olympian" release, the Mussorgsky-Ravel Pictures
at an Exhibition; Puccini's Tosca in the new Angel (two-disk) ver-
sion — with a special nod to the last-act firing Squad, and RCA
Victor's Toscanini record of Respighi's Pines and Fountains of Rome.
Seven recordings drew two votes: Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet, com-
plete on two disks, by Munch on RCA Victor; also his Symphonic
Fantastique, by Ormandy on Columbia; the new Humperdinck
Hansel and Gretel, by Schwarzkopf, von Karajan, etc., on two Angel
disks; the Mozart Divertimento No. 17, by Tomasow and Prohaska
on Vanguard; the Paganini Violin Concerto No. 1 by Francescatti and
Ormandy on Columbia; the Schubert Trio No. 2, by Badura-Skoda,
etc., on Westminster; and the Tchaikovsky Overture 1812 by Boult
on London.

Most of these are self-explanatory, with the possible exception
of the Paganini concerto, not usually thought of as sonically spec-
tacular. But this illustrates a point which, as a matter of fact, shows
up throughout the single-vote choices. It is this, that real record-
lovers love their records, particularly their favorites. And, when
any kind of contest arises, by hook or crook they will get these
favorites into the running. What the upcoming list of hi-fi war-
horses (unquote) amounts to, thus, is a roster of the records the
voting staff-members most enjoy listening to, with a slight emphasis
on sonic excellence. The latter factor, it may be pointed out, ob-
viously is here taken to include the credibility and suitability of the
sound. Here are the recordings which received one vote each:

Bach's Brandenburg Concertos No. 1 and No. 2, by Haas on West-
minster. Also his Suites for Cello Unaccompanied, by Janigro on
Westminster. Four Beethoven symphonies — the Third by Leins-
dorf on Columbia-Entre, the Fifth by Kleibet on London, the Sixth
by Toscanini on RCA Victor, the Ninth by the same. Berlioz'
L'Enfance du Christ, by Scherman, etc., on Columbia. Brahms'
Piano Concerto No. 1, by Backhaus and Bohm on London. M. A.
Charpentier's Te Deum, Oculi Omnium, etc., by Martini on Haydn
Society. Dvorak's Symphony No. 5, "From the New World,"by
Kubelik on Mercury. Haydn's Symphony No. i$ by Sternberg on
Haydn Society, also his Trio No. 1 by Badura-Skoda and colleagues
on Westminster. Gustav Hoist's The Planets, by Boult on West-
minster. Kabalevsky's The Comedians by Kurtz on Columbia.
Liszt's Piano Concertos No. 1 and No. 2. by Farnadi and Scherchen

on Westminster. Lute Trios of the Eighteenth Century, on Period.
Mahler's Lied von der Erde and Three Ruckert Songs, by Bruno Wal-
ter and the late Kathleen Ferrier, on London (two records). Mas-
cagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, by Del Monaco, Ghione, etc., (two
disks) on London. Carlos Montoya playing Flamenca on the guitar,
on Cook "Sounds of Our Time". Offenbach's La Vie Parisienne,
by Tourel, Morel, etc., on Columbia. Poulenc's Organ Concerto in
G, by Biggs and Burgin on Columbia. Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, by
Flagstad, etc., on HMV. Rodgers' Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, by
Fiedler on RCA Victor. Saint-Saens' Symphony No, 3, (the
"organ Symphony," with the famous bass passage in the second
movement) by Munch on Columbia. Schubert's Symphony No. 2,
by Steinberg on Capitol, and his Trios No, 1 and No. 2, both by
Badura-Skoda, Fournier and Janigro on Westminster. Tchaikovsky's
Nutcracker Suite and Sleeping Beauty Suite (both excerpts) by Or-
mandy on Columbia, also his 1812 Overture, Romeo and Juliet Over-
ture and Capriccio Italien by van Kempen on Epic. Vivaldi's The
Seasons, by Munchinger on London. Wagner's Tristan and Isolde,
by Flagstad, Furtwangler, etc., (five disks) on RCA Victor.

Of the whole 41, only 12 fall into what is ordinarily considered
the high-fidelity show-piece category, featuring a big orchestra
(or at least one well loaded with brass and drums, perhaps with
an organ lurking around). These are the Beethoven Fifth, the two
Berlioz works, the Mercury "New World," the Haydn "Military,"
the Hoist Planets, the Liszt concertos, the Mahler, the Mussorgsky
Pictures, the Poulenc concerto (though the man who nominated
this said he recommended it as a musical whole, albeit he had made
its acquaintance because of its brief subterranean organ-thud),
the Respighi Pines, with its 3o-cycle organ beat, representing the
ghostly legionaries, the Saint-Saens and the three Tchaikovsky
records. The Cook record might come under the fi-disk description,
too, simply because it is of the famous "Sounds of Our Times"
breed, beloved of audiophiles. The fact remains, though that it is a
solo-instrument record. So is the Bach suite disk. In both cases,
part of the appeal is the credibility of the illusion that the performer
— and his instrument — is actually present in the room. The same
thing applies to the lute trio disk, to a degree. It bears less upon
the Haydn and Schubert trios; each of these employs a grand piano,
and has been recorded at a reasonable distance. In fact, there is
closer miking in the Mozart divertimento, where Jan Tomasow's
violin sounds almost as if he were standing at the site of the loud-
speaker, with the chamber orchestra a little behind him. In the
London Vivaldi Seasons, somewhat older, the effect is slightly less
intimate; in the Haydn Symphony No. 13 the orchestra is small, but
further away.

Five operas made the grade. It may be significant that all of them
are majot in what is Called presence-effect, but in the opeta-house
sense. I.e., the listener is given the imptession that he is in the
hall, not that Maria Callas or Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is in his room.

Perspective also enters into the otchestra choices which are not
of the hi-fi-noise classification. Leinsdorf's "Eroica," apart from
its interpretative merits, has been ptaised in these review-pages
for its balance. The same kind of honor goes to the London Brahms
piano concerto (thete exists, in fact, also on the London label,
another version of the same work, with Clifford Curzon, which
has much sharper instrumental definition, but it seems on this
score to have sounded less convincing). It may or may not be
significant that no solo piano tecord was nominated, despite the
large number of these that ate issued. To record a piano success-
fully at close range seems still to be one of the hardest tasks the
engineers face.

June, 1954

'53

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RECORDS

in coping with these 'tremendously demand-
ing arias. Her voice is characteristically clear
and bright — as it was a year ago; this season
it has taken on a warmer, more Italianate
coloration, especially in the middle. Her
technical poise is admirable. All told, aside
from a few engineering twists to add volume
and body to her extreme high tones, the
recording gives an accurate aural picture of
how a somewhat idealized Roberta Peters
might be expected to sound under expertly
controlled, typically RCA Victor studio con-
ditions. As sound it is brilliant, and as vocal-
ism it is always adept and well schooled.
But the performances are wanting in per-
sonality, even when due allowance is made
for the fact that the beauty of coloratura
singing is by its very nature on the abstract
side. Apart from some glimmerings of
dramatic projection in the excerpt from
Lucia di Lammermoor (the only opera, coin-
cidental^, that is both on this record and in
Miss Peters' active stage repertoire), what
is to be heard is the singing of a girl with a
healthy, lovely and splendid technical
foundation, but a young girl, still un-
awakened to the emotional possibilities of
the music. A comparison with Maria Callas
in the excerpts from / Puritani would be
patently unfair, and none will be made here.
But there is still the unbankable fact that
when Lina Pagltughi recorded La Sonnam-
bula for Cetra she knew far more about both
style and content than Miss Peters did
when she cut these isolated arias for Victor.
On records, the visual element can be dis-
regarded, and the question of what Miss
Peters may learn about Bellini in the next
10 or 2 5 years is quite beside the point.

As for the historical items offered as
corroborative evidence of Miss Peters' pre-
sent right to her advertised place in the
coloratura heirarchy, they are insufficient.
In the first place, none requires big-scale
dramatic coloratura singing. In the second
place, none gets it. Luisa Tetrazzini's
Migrton recording, although it was made in
1908, is well enough preserved to communi-
cate some sense of vocal dimension and a
good deal of Philine's carefree exhilaration;
this is by far the best performance on the
disk, but the material is essentially gym-
nastic. The Lakml aria is not purely for dis-
play, but Lily Pons (in a recording that
dates from just before the Metropolitan
revival of 1930 sings it as if it were, and
Amelita Galli-Curci's 1927 Una voce poco fd
found her in a mood to be content with
a glittery surface, although both are exceed-
ingly well vocalized. There unquestionably
was such a thing as a great colorarura tra-
dition, but of all the bands on this record
only Mme. Tetrazzini's gives real meaning
to the title. For Miss Peters there must be
the Scotch verdict: "Not proven" — bur
with an unlegalistic muttered "yet" at the
end. J. H., Jr.

EZIO PINZA: Verdi and Mozart Arias

Verdi: Don Carlo; Ella giammai m'amo. Simon
Boccanegra; II lacerate spirito. Ernani: Infelice!
e tu crtdevi. Nabucco: Tu sul labbro. I Vespri
Sicilian!: O tu, Palermo. Mozart: Don
Giovanni; Madamina and Ne/la bionda;
Deb, vieni alia finestra; Finch' ban dal vino
La Noxze di Figaro: Non piu andrai; Se vuol
ballare. II Flauto Magico: Possente numi;
Qui idegno non s'accende.
Ezio Pinza (bs); RCA Victor Orchestra;

Erich Leinsdorf and Alfred Wallenstein,
conds.

RCA Victor lm 175 1 . i2-in. $5.95."

For more than 20 years before he shifted
his field of operation a few blocks up Broad-
way to South Pacific, Ezio Pinza had been a
major attraction at the Metropolitan. That
was in 1949. Possibly influenced by his re-
soundingly successful demonstration that
middle-aged gentlemen can still appeal to
ladies, RCA Victor re-signed him at about
that time. These arias — the Mozart re-
corded in the spring of 195 1 and the Verdi
a year later — represent him in what might
be called his full vocal maturity, looking
back on rather than actively involved in an
operatic career. Although basses last better
than most singers, and although Mr. Pinza's
experience is too solid to fade away in so
brief a period, it would not be fair to claim
that his performances here represent either
his voice at its best or his theatrical projec-
tion at its keenest.

He has been quoted, perhaps apocryphally,
as having said of himself, "I'm not a great
artist; I just make beautiful sounds" —
or words to that effect. If he did say it, he
failed to do himself complete justice; there
is more than that to so long and important
a career. Yet it is true that his principal
assets have always been a tremendously
resonant and impressive voice and a stage
presence to match. This is quite a lot, to be
sure, but the effect was primarily vocal and
personal rather than creatively artistic; on
records, the rewards decrease in almost exact

Roberta Peters: pretty beyond argument,
but is her art quite that 0} Tetrazzini?

proportion as the voice itself deteriorares in
quality.

Without pressing that point further, these
performances are good in inverse proportion
to the technical difficulties of the music. In
the Mozart excerpts, also available separately
on a ten-inch disk, Mr. Pinza is besr when
he has to deal with music that needs a dig-
nified, orotund delivery — like the two arias
from The Magic Flute. In Non piu andrai
and St vuol ballare his voice sounds hollower
than it used to. His singing here of the
Don Giovanni arias gives only a faint im-
pression of the huge animal vitality of his
impersonation of The Don, for in the
serenade there is a good deal of faking and
imperfect pitch at the tops of phrases and
in the champagne aria the tempo is de-
liberate and the articulation effortful. The
Madmina is perfunctory. Earlier recordings
of these, although not so well recorded, bear
a much closer relationship to what people in

search of mementos will recognize and give
a truer impression of his impact to those
who never heard him in the opera house.

The unusual selection of Verdi arias,
however, makes the disk as a whole worth
owning, for although the voice is not what
it once was in them, either, they do not re-
quire so much technical facility, and Mr.
Pinza to his dying day will certainly not
forget how to shape the big line of Verdi
bass roles. As vocal characterizations they
are not so interesring, partly because these
particular operas are not among those in
which Mr. Pinza sang frequently — if, in-
deed, ever — but the singing is large-scale
and authoritative. The accompaniments are
satisfactory; when chorus is required, a
smallish sounding group is provided. The
recording, perhaps a little over-engineered
to fill out resonances, is rich in the Victor
way. J. H., Jr.

RODGERS

The Boys from Syracuse.

Portia Nelson, Jack Cassidy, Bibi Oster-
wald and others.

Chorus and orchestra conducted by Leh-
man Engel.

Columbia ml 4837. 12-in. 55 min. $5.95.

Columbia has certainly done right by Rod-
gers and Hart in this first-class recording of
their 1938 musical parody of Shakespeare's
"Comedy of Errors." It has selected a
group of show-wise singers, who always
sound youthful, enthusiastic and completely
at home in front of the mike, backed them
up with a fine chorus and orchestra, and
handed the whole thing over to the ex-
perienced hands of Lehman Engel. The
result is a smash.

Perhaps Rodgers' score is not his most
brilliant effort, but I'd Say it was certainly
over par, with "Falling in Love," "Sing for
Your Supper" and "This Can't be Love" in
it. To go along with this are some of Larry
Hart's most inventive and sly lyrics, in
passing I might mention what a pleasure it
is to hear all of them so clearly sung.

The Columbia engineers have provided
a large-as-life, close-to sound that is start-
ling in its realism, yet never overpowering.
Can you ask for more? J. F. I.

ROSSINI AND VERDI OVERTURES

Rossini: Overtures to Guillaume Tell; La
Cenerentola. Verdi: Overtures to La Forxa
del Destine; Un Giorno di Regno; La Battaglia
di Legnano.

Orchesrta of Radio Italians; Mario Rossi,
Gino Matinuzzi, Alfredo Simonetto and
Fernando Previtali, conds.
Cetra a 501 5 r. 12-in. $5.95.

Listening, One after another, to opera Over-
tures, without following along into the
operas themselves, seems an oddly abortive
pastime. Nevertheless, there are presumably
enthusiasts of it, and for such this set of
truncations from the Cetra catalog is de-
signed. The performances — to generalize
about the lot instead of taking each Sep-
rately — are vital, idiomatic, and theatrically
aware. Not always super-smooth in detail,
they suffer from finicky comparison with
virtuoso concert-type presentations, but they
have spirit and a validity of their own. The
engineering is average, satisfactory Cetra.
The unusual items are the Verdi overtures

High Fidelity Magazine

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RECORDS

to Vn Giorno di Regno and La Battagiia di
Legnano, neither of which is, to my knowl-
edge, otherwise available, except, of course,
in the complete recordings from which
they were taken. The first, which sounds
like opaque, rather graceless Donizetti, has
little more than the curiosity value that de-
rives from its status as probably the least
characteristic music by Verdi to be heard on
records, Un Giorno di Regno was Verdi's
second opera and has only comic effort ex-
cept Falstaff, which came over half a century
later. As Verdi said in later years, it is no
worse than plenty of other bad operas. But
that is small praise, and the overture —
like the overture to Wagner's Litbtsvtrbot — •
will appeal mainly to devotees of the guess
what-/£»-is game. La Battagiia di Ltgnano
is middle Verdi (just before Rigoletto, La
Traviata and // Trovatorr) but sounds earlier
— more like Nabucct and / Lombard!. The
overture is a real rip-snorter with a fine
march tune and a lovely, long, long melody
in the middle section. It is quite worth
hearing on its merits. Whether these un-
usualities are enough to make purchase of
the recording worth while is a matter of in-
dividual choice. All the rest of the repertory
Can be had in performances better played
and better recorded, most notably when
Arturo Toscanini has turned his attention to
the same items. J. H., Jr.

CESARE VALLETTI: Donizetti Arias

L'E/isir d" Amort: Quant o i btlla; una Furtiva
Pagrinia, La Figlia del Reggimento: Amid miei
and Qua/ destino; Eccomi ftnalmente. Don Pas-
quale; Sogno soave e casto (with Sesto Btuscan-
tini, bs); Povero Ernesto! and Chcercheri lontana
terra: Com' e gentil and Tornami i dir (with
Alda Noni, s).

Cesare Valletti (t); Orchestra of Radio
Italiana, Mario Rossi and Gianandrea
Gavazzeni, conds.
Cetra 50154. 12-in. $5. 95.

Cesare Valletti did not start at the top; he
worked his way up from secondary roles,
like that of Falminio in the recorded per-
formance of Montemezzi's L'Amore dei Tre
Re, to primary ones, like those he sings here.
Now he is not Only a leading tenor but a
leading tenor of inrernational status. The
great assets that enabled him to rise are
those he demonstrates here: intelligence,
sound musicianship, and stylistic taste. The
voice itself is a sweet tenorino — not quite a
full-sized tenor — of no special distinction.
It has some gloss bur no real velvet and little
variety of color. It can negotiate florid
passage-work accurately, but there is nearly
always a sense of the will at work, of tech-
nique being applied, rather than of effortless
flexibility. Yet — as those who heard him
at the Metropolitan during the past season
will recognize — he is an infinitely more
Satisfying singer than many more lavishly
gifted by nature. This disk, made up of
chunks from full-length Cerra recordings of
operas by Donizetti, presents him in a most
attractive light. He records very well, and
the perceptiveness, grace, and musical
honesty of his singing all come through —
enhanced, if anything, by the close but fully
resonant Cetra engineering. Recommended
without reservation, except that no texts
are given and label information is incom-
plete — as usual. J. H., Jr.

June, 1954

SONGS FROM SHAKESPEARE'S
PLAYS

Murray Dickie, tenor. The Westminster
Light Orchestra; Leslie Bridgewater, cond.
Westminster wl 4010. 12-in. 43 min.

Pleasantly undistinguished musical settings
to Shakespearean poems, written by Bridge-
water for London productions over the past

Antat Kocze: the music may be sad as all-
get-out, but Westminster's sound is gay.

decade. Like Quilter, Rosse and a host of
other English composers who have tried
their hand at this sort of thing, he manages
to evoke a certain amount of Elizabethan
atmosphere, thanks to skillful and trans-
parent orchestration. Unfortunately most
of these songs sound derivative and, oc-
casionally, forced in their striving for effect.
Perhaps the one exception is the charming
little opening section "The Brooklet" with
its appropriate bow in the direction of
Schubert.

An excellently clear-cut recording, sensi-
bly small scaled and light. Dickie's voice
seems a little heavy for this sort of thing,
and the tessitura of at least two of the
songs cause him some trouble, but on the
whole, his is a most satisfactory performance,
and the orchestral support, under the com-
poser's direction is both considerate and
convincing. J. F. I.

THE MUSIC BETWEEN

STRAUSS

Waltzes, Polkas and Marches

Vienna Srare Opera Orchestra, Anton
Paulik, cond.

Vanguard VRS-443. 12-in. $5.95.

Persian March; Tales from the Vienna
Woods; Hunting Polka; Village Swallows
Waltz; Entrance March, Die Zigeunerbaron;
Voices 0/ Spring; Dot in the i Polka; Trans-
mitted Polka; Emperor Waltz.

Strauss again, both Johann, Jr. and Josef,
in a generally satisfying recording. The
orchestra, under Anton Paulik's sturdy di-
rection, plays with a warm heart, and the
waltzes, polkas and marches it offers create a
happily congenial atmosphere. Included
is the sprightly, rarely-heard Transmitted
Polka, and it makes a nice novelty. The
sound is brilliant and full.

SING GYPSIES!

Sari Barabas and Kalman Lendvay's

Gypsy Orchestra.

Columbia ml 4836. 12-in. $5.95.

/ Love the Garden; Beyond the River Tisza; A
Girl Becomes a Woman; Why the Blonde For

Me; Why May the Bird . . .; The Waters of
Mans Flow Quietly; Nothing, My Sweet,
Nothing; If I Were Rich; There's Only One
Little Girl; The Corn is Growing Ripe;
Miklos of Nagy Berecseni; You Are the Lad;
Pal from Tyukodi; On Whitsuntide Day;
Gloomy Sunday; For the Pharmacy; The Vast
Forest is Far Away; The Dance Begins Now;
Blonde Little Girl; He is Beautiful Who Has
Blue Eyes; One Should Go to Debrecen; The
Gypsy's Tent; If You Are a Blossom; Three
Salty Pretzels; Good Evening; Now is Sun-
down.

GYPSY SONGS ANDCSARDAS Vol. II

Westminster wl 3012. 10-in. $3.95.

Anral Kocze and his Gypsies.
Open the Door, Sweetheart; The Proud Cow-
boy; Rakocsis Song-Dark Clouds; University
Song; Harvest Time; Teardrops; You Are
My Man-Ballad; Little Picket Fence,

More Gypsy music for those who have not
had their fill or tried it yet. The mixture is
as before and it's mostly sad. Sari Barabas,
on the Columbia record, has a light, sweet
coloratura that seems well able to handle the
demands of gypsy vocal music. Lendvay's
orchestra gives her fine support. On the
Westminster, Antal Kocze, the old master, is
up to form. Both records bolster the music
with excellent sound.

BIZET — Carmen

Andre" Kostelanetz and his Orchestra.
Columbia ml 4826. i2-in. $5.45.

Without the vicissitudes of contraltos, so-
pranos, tenors and baritones to worry
about, Andre 1 Kostelanetz has been able to
really let loose here with an orchestral suite
from Carmen. The tempo is fast and the
total effect dramatic and always theatrically
effective. The dances that open the second
act, for example, build to a feverish pitch of
excitement. The Toreador's Song on the other
hand, doesn't come off so well; simply
enough, it misses a baritone's attack. In
general, though, this is one of Kostelanetz's
best jobs: richly-colored, heady, and fast-
moving. The conductot has been matched
all along the line by Columbia's alert en-
gineers.

AN ANTHOLOGY OF JEWISH SONG

Sylvia Schultz, accompanying herself on
the guitar; with Milia Eram, piano; Lane
Daven, recorder; Kurt Hellman, pet-
cussion.

Classic Editions ce io36. 12-in. $5.95.

Sylvia Schultz has a small, lyric soprano and
she uses it with intelligence; her singing of
these Yiddish and Israeli songs seemed to
me almost always informed by understand-
ing and expressiveness. I liked particularly
her interpretations of Hine Ma Tov, which
she sings in theme-and-variarion form; the
plaintive Tailor's Song; Potatoes, a lament that
explains, in a few words, a situation that
existed many years ago — namely, the in-
variable presence of potatoes in the Eastern
European Jew's diet; and Turn Balalayka.
She was less successful, I thought, in such
lieder as The Butterfly and the Flower and
Reitia, both of which require a flexibility
her voice does not have. The sound through-
out is clear, but the instruments that ac-

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RECORDS

company Miss Schultz seem to have been
placed too close to the mike, or mikes, for
the singer's comfort. Altogether, though,
this is an album of enotmous warmth and
charm,

THE MERRY YODELER

Austrian Folk Musicians. Karl Zaruba,
director.

Vanguard vrs 7004. 10-in. $4.00.
In the Tyrol Mountains; I am a Pretty
Maiden; The Clarinet Mugl; The Archduke
Johann Yodel; Song of the Alps March;
Yodel Chain, No. 1; Yodel Chain, No. 2;
At St. Brigitta's Kermess; The Girl from
Proll; Woodwind March.

This recording was made on location by Van-
guard engineers; you are assured of authen-
ticity. The personnel at work include a
trio of two sopranos and tenor, a village
peasant band containing a no-nonsense
tuba and tubaist; and a solo barirone,
whose melancholy yodeling will break rhe
hardest heart. Since this record amounts to
one long yodel from beginning to end (with
the exception of an occasional band solo)
I can advise it only for affkionados of rhar
particularly eccentric brand of vocalism.
The sound, by rhe way, is satisfactory.

THE BAND PLAYS

The Royal Artillery Band, conducted by
Col. Geary.

BOOSEY AND HAWKES BH MTLP 2030.

r2-in.

Illinois March; The Blue Tail Fly; Thunder
Song; Sunlit Summits; Fantasy on American

Sailing Songs; La Donna; Sun Valley Moun-
tains; Stepping High; A Westchester Overture;
Tioga.

MARCHES AROUND THE WORLD

Vanguard Military Band, conducted by
Hans Anniger.

Vanguard vrs 7006, 10-in. $4.00,
Le Pire La Victoria; Musik Voran; Castaldo
March; Zum Stadtel Hinaus; Lyuck-Lyuck;
Giocondita; Radetzky March.

From rhe evidence heard on rhis record, rhe
Royal Artillery Band is a well-schooled out-
fit that knows how to play marches with a
festive ait. Anybody, I think, would love a
parade accompanied by rhis band. It has its
troubles, as do most bands, with special
atrangemenrs, such as rhe Fantasy on American
Sailing Songs, but in genetal the marches,
which are robusr and full-blooded, more
than make up for the low moments. The
sound is satisfactorily crisp although on oc-
casion I found a good deal of clicking and
popping on my record. Boosey and Hawkes
have supplied scores for the listener in a
little insert stuck onto the back of the en-
velope; this was a pleasant consideration
but they also might have included a few
words about the Royal Artillery Band and
its leader, Col. Geary.

On rhe new Vanguard, its military band,
conducted by Hans Anninger, competently
plays marches from France, Austria, Czecho-
slovakia, Germany, Hungary and Italy. The
spirit is distinctly more martial here. The
band has been given splendid sound, with
plenty of concentration on the cymbals.

Robert Kotlowitz

THE BEST OF JAZZ

THE DUKE PLAYS ELLINGTON

Capitol h 477. 10-in. 23 min. $2.98.

Duke Ellington, piano; Wendell Marshall,
Bass; Butch Ballard, drums,
befiections in D; Prelude to a Kiss; B Sharp
Rlues; Passion Flower; In a Sentimental Mood;
Things Ain't What They Used to Be; Who
Knows?; Janet,

For the almost 3o years that he has led one
of the most continuously provocative of big
jazz bands, Duke Ellington has steadily
shied away from the role of solo performer.
He has taken his accolades as composet,
attanger and organizer but even his avid
followers have been apt to dismiss him as a
pianist of any special note. The occasional
solo records he has made in the past would
seem to beat this out and his use of the
piano in his own band arrangements pri-
marily as a means of underlining phrases
played by others might indicate that he felt
much the same way.

However, Ellington has finally been pre-
vailed on to cut a group of piano solos. The
results are much as though a great new jazz
pianist had suddenly burst on the scene.
The scattered chords which have dotted his
band work form the basis from which his
solo efforts are formed but the final effect is
richer and much more Satisfying than these
chords would lead one to suspect that a
completed Ellington solo might be.

He plays four familiar Ellington tunes and
four ad lib pieces on this LP and, while the

Jazz Reissues

The jazz pirates who were flooding the countty with unauthorized
dubbings of classic jazz recordings a few years ago until Louis
Armstrong, at the instigation of Columbia Records, asserted that
his privacy was being invaded by their activities, can be thanked
for at least one thing: the sales they rang up with their often noisy
disks showed the proper owners of these old jazz records that
there was a market there, ready and willing ro be tapped.

That market is now in the process of being wooed assiduously.
Latest enttant in the ranks of wooers is RCA Victor's new subsidiary,
"X" Records, which has launched a program which will see the
cream of Victor's jazz recordings of the Twenties and Thirties re-
issued on no less than 100 ten-inch LPs. The first ten of these are
now at hand (*! and an additional release is to be forthcoming
every two weeks for the next three years.

The scope of the "X" series cannot be described as anything but
broad. These first releases include rhe moody sophistication of
Rex Stewart's small Ellington group, the yahoo zest of the Original
Dixieland Jazz Band and the backwoods thumping of the jug bands.
There are teen-aged Benny Goodman's first record solo (a good one,
too, with Ben Pollack's orchestra), Jimmy Yancey's long-delayed
disk debut and the mature and polished work of Johnny Dodds
and Jelly Roll Morton. The bands of Jimmie Lunceford and Bennie
Moten are caught on the verge of grearness, Glenn Miller is heard
as a rough-toned hot trombonist and Jack Teagarden shows rhat
he didn't have to develop — he just arrived perfect.

Anyone who has followed jazz will find these reissues engagingly
stimulating: Did you remember that Bennie Moten's band had
such a rugged attack, that the Lunceford band had its fantastic
beat even in its earliest days, that commercial dance bands once
included such jazz solos as Ben Pollack's did, that Red McKenzie
could coax so much rhyrhm from comb and tissue paper? The
afficionado will also be intrigued when he plays these reissues against
his old 78 shellac versions. Where it is needed, body has been added
and, particularly on such acoustical recordings as the Original
Dixieland Jass Band's, the original blur of instruments has been
given much clearer definition.

The liner notes, incidentally, are models of clarity, pertinacity and
completeness. This is as it should be since the notes and the records
for the complete "X" series have been produced by Bill Grauer, Jr.,
and Orris Keepnews who, for more than a year, have been con-
ducting a similar operation on their own Riverside label.

Lacking access to a major company's files before their current
association with Victor, Grauer and Keepnews acquired reissue
rights to a vast assortment of small, independent and defunct jazz
labels. Among them were such companies of happy memory as
Gennett, Paramount, Black Swan, Autograph, Puritan, Solo Art and
Circle. So far they have released 33 ten-inch LPs in a projected
program which ultimately foresees a total of 250.

Their Riverside releases to date have mixed the great names of
jazz and some of the undeservedly less known names. Their cata-
log includes Louis Armstrong playing with King Oliver's Creole
Jazz Band (rlp 1029), rhe New Orleans Rhythm Kings with Leon
Rappolo, Paul Mares and George Brunis (RLP 1024), Bix Beider-
becke and the Wolverines (rlp 1023), two sets by the legendary
blues singer. Ma Rainey (rlp 1O16 and 1003), two sers by Johnny
Dodds (rlp 1015 and 1002), New Orleans Horns, featuring King
Oliver, Louis Armstrong and Freddie Keppard (rlp 1005), and the
Chicagoans, featuring Muggsy Spanier and Frank Teschmaker
(rlp 1004).

The most recent LPs from Riverside (**) are typical of their
blending of the familiar, the somewhat familiar and the unfamiliar
in a single batch of releases. The Wingy Manone records were made
24 years ago when Manone was still to be considered seriously as a
jazz figure. He plays and sings with youthful zest on most of
these numbers. The trumpet featured on the Clarence Williams
LP may be King Oliver and then again it may be Ed Allen, memories
being uncertain about such things. In any event, it is a coaxing
muted trumpet rhar turns up on these sides which, like most Clarence
Williams recordings, are tuba-heavy and rather darkly impelling.
Jimmy BIythe was a pianist who made most of his recorded appear-
ances as an accompanist. This LP offers some of his few solo
efforts, sturdy playing in the blues manner and particularly virile
when attacking a stomp.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

familiar numbers are the ones which have
been most completely developed melodi-
cally, his extemporaneous Reflections in D
proves to be a well worked out expression of
his minor mood in a romantic vein. Another
extemporaneous piece, Who Knows?, re-
veals that even the iconoclastic Ellington
is influenced at times — in this case, by the
modern jazzmen who have entered his band
lately. And, as usual, he is not satisfied to
let his standard numbers stand in their
familiar form. Things Ain't What They
Used to Be, a rough, rocking thing in its
big band form, becomes smoothly insinuat-
ing in the Duke's piano version.

Ellington has taken a long time getting
around to piano solos of this sort but they
were well worth waiting for.

A BUCK. CLAYTON JAM SESSION

Columbia cl 548. 12-in. 38 min. $3.95.

Buck Clayton, Joe Newman, trumpets;
Urbie Green, Henderson Chambers, trom-
bones; Lem Davis, alto saxophone; Julian
Dash, tenor saxophone; Charlie Fowlkes,
baritone saxophone; Sir Charles Thompson,
piano; Freddie Green, guitar; Walter Page,
bass; Jo Jones, drums.
The Huckle-Buck; Rabbins Nest.

Despite the atrocities that have been per-
petrated on long playing records in the
guise of giving jazz musicians freedom to
develop their ideas, there is merit in this
notion when it is put in capable hands.
Some of Vanguard's first jazz releases (see
May issue of High Fidelity) and most of

Buck Clayton. On Kobbins Nest a hypnotic
effect. On Huckle Buck accumulated tedium

the Buck Clayton Jam Session under considera-
tion here do credit to the idea that some
jazzmen can play both interestingly and at
length.

The Clayton group, made up of men who
are scarcely world famous but who are very
capable craftsmen, play together with an
ease which belies the fact that they met as a
group for the first time in the studio where
these numbers were cut. On Robbin's Nest,
played at a relaxed tempo, their succession
of solo and ensemble choruses achieve an
almost hypnotic effect. Although it runs
for more than 17 minutes, the interest level

Grauer and Keepnews have barely scratched the surface of the
material they have gathered together for their Riverside label. In
addition to known material on the labels they have acquired, they
will issue a Louis Armstrong broadcast not previously on records
and they will reprocess and reissue the Jelly Roll Morton Library
of Congress series.

On "X" Records, their next releases will involve Fletcher Hender-
son, Wingy Manone, Mezz Mezzrow, King Oliver, Jean Gold-
kette's band, the Missourians, the Washboard Rhythm Kings,
Gene Gifford, Gene Krupa and Mildred Bailey.

Anybody interested in some scratchy old jazz 78s real cheap?

John S. Wilson

(•) Jimmy Yancey: Blues and Boogie "X" lx-3ooo

Yancey Stomp; State Street Special; Tell Em About Me; Five O'Cloci
Blues; Yancey's Bugle Call; Death Letter Blues; Crying in My Sleep;
35th and Dearborn.

Rex Stewart and His Orchestra "X" lx-3ooi

Mobile Bay: Linger Awhile; My Sunday Gal; Without a Song; Subtle
Slough; Same Saturday; Poor Bubber; Menelik — the Lion of Judah.

Jimmy Lunceford and his Chickasaw Syncopators "X" Lx-3002

White Heat; In Dat Momin'; Sweet Rhythm; Swingin Uptown; Jazzno-
cracy; Chilian Get Up; Leaving Me; Breakfast Ball.

Ben Pollack and His Orchestra "X" lx-3oo3

Waitin for Katie; Buy Buy for Baby; Yellow Dog Blues; He's the Last
Word; Singapore Sorrows No. 4, No. 2, No. 3; Memphis Blues; Bash-
ful Baby.

Bennie Moten's Kansas City Jazz (Vol. 1 ) "X" LX-3004

Kansas City Shuffle; Yazoo Blues; Midnight Mama; Missouri Wabble:
New Tulsa Blues; Pass Out Lightly; Ding Dong Blues; Moten Stomp.

Eddie Condon's Hot Shots "X" lx 3005

Mound City Blue Blowers: Hello Lola; One Hour; Tailspin Blues;

June, 1954

remains constantly high as ideas are intro-
duced, worked out and then set aside in
favor of the new one. Henderson Chambers'
muted trombone, Clayton's controlled trum-
pet work and Sir Charles Thompson's de-
lightful background remarks and Basieish
soloing are highlights of a well-knit and
thoroughly worthy side.

The Huckle-Buck is another matter. This
repetitious riff number gives the musicians
little to work with thematically and, since
the tune is quite short, 63 choruses have
been played before the side is over. Sixty-
three choruses of anything is quite a few
too many in one dose and, despite some in-
spired individual moments (as when Clay-
ton plays one of his noted whispering muted
passages) tedium accumulates.

THE LIONEL HAMPTON QUARTET

CLEFMGC-611. 12-in. 29 min. J4.85.

Lionel Hampton, vibraphone; Oscar Peter-
son, piano, Ray Brown, bass; Buddy Rich,
drums.

S Wonderful; A/ways; Air Mail Special; Soft
Lights.

Although Lionel Hampton is the nominal
head man of this disk, it is pianist Oscar
Peterson who walks off with it. Peterson
consistently develops his variations in an
interesting and sensitive manner — on 'S
Wonderful he is swinging dexterously, on
A/ways he is reflective, on Air Mail Special
he rides with vigor and on Soft Lights he is
easy, flowing and relaxed.

Even while he is being relentlessly cut to
shreds by Peterson, Hampton shows oc-

Never Had a Reason to Believe in You.

Boyd Senter and His Senterpedes: Copenhagen.

Eddie Condon's Hot Shots: That's a Serious Thing; I'm Gonna Stomp

Mr. Henry Lee No. 1, No. 2.

Johnny Dodds* Washboard Band "X" LX-3oo6

Blue Washboard Stomp; Blue Clarinet Stomp No. 1, No. 2, Blue Piano
Stomp; Weary City; Bull Piddle Blues; Indigo Stomp; Bucktown Stomp.

Original Dixieland Jass Band (Vol. 1) 'X" LX-3007

Dixie Jass Band One-Step; Livery Stable Blues; Skeleton Jangle; Tiger
Rag; Sessation Rag; Bluin the Blues; Mournin' Blues; Clarinet Marma-
lade.

Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers (Vol. 1) "X" lx-3oo8

Black Bottom Stomp; Sidewalk Blues No. 2, No. 3/ The Chant; Steam-
boat Stomp; Dead Man Blues No. 1, No. 2; Smoke House Blues.

Backgrounds of jazz (Vol. 1): The Jug Bands "X" LX-3009

Dixieland Jug Blowers: Southern Shout; Banjoreno; Boodle-Am Shake;
National Blues.

Memphis Jug Band: Stingy Woman Blues; Newport News Blues; Sun
Brimmers Blues; Overseas Stomp.

(**) Wingy Manone's Dixieland Jazz Riverside rlp ro3o

Big Butter and Egg Man; Tar Paper Stomp; Weary Blues; Up the Coun-
try; Tin Roof Blues; Shake That Thing.

Jimmy Blythe Riverside rlp io3i

Chicago Stomps; Armour Avenue Struggle; Mr. Freddie Blues; Lovin's
Been Here and Gone to the Mecca Flat; Sunshine Special; Be Yourself;
South Side Stomp; Five O'Cloci Blues.

Clarence Williams and His Orchestra Riverside rlp io33

Bozo; Kitchen Woman Blues; Lock Step Blues; Bimbo; Beau Koo Jack;
Sister Kate; Speakeasy Blues; Long, Deep and Wide.

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

FIRST AMERICAN JAZZ FESTIVAL

Announced too late for inclusion in the
summer music round-up on pages 29-30,
this will present the following soloists
and bandleaders with their groups: Count
Basie, Eddie Condon, Roy Eldridge, Duke
Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Errol Garner,
Dizzie Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Stan
Kenton, Lee Konitz, Jerry Mulligan,
Charlie "Bird" Parker, Oscar Peterson,
George Shearing, Art Tatum, Lennie
Tristano, Sarah Barnes, Teddy Wilson
and Les Young.

Newport Casino, Newport, R. I. July
17-18; afternoon and evening sessions.
Admission $3, $4 and $5 per day. Non-
profit; proceeds to establish scholar-
ships in jazz and American folk-music.
Tickets available from the Casino,
Newport.

casional flashes of the vital, unhackneyed
approach with which he won his fame. But
apparently his recent years of chopping
wood with his noisy big band have left
their mark for his playing has lost that
delicacy which used to be his and his musical
thinking rarely rises above the routine.
Thanks to Peterson, however, Hampton's
defections are of minor moment in consider-
ing this disk for Peterson's work, and the
sturdy support of Buddy Rich and Ray
Brown, make it a highly engaging effort.

BARBARA CARROLL TRIO

RCA Victor ljm 1 00 1. 12-in. 35 mm. $4.19.

Barbara Carroll, piano; Joe Shulman, bass;
Herb Wasserman, drums.
I Want a Little Girl; Serenade for a Wealthy
Widow; Folks Who Live on The Hill; What's
the Use of Wond rin'; Mountain Greenery: Let's
Fall in Love; From This Moment On; Goodbye;
Good Bait; Cabin in the Sky; Give Me the
Simple Life; Lullaby of Broadway.

If anyone is going to rise up to challenge
Mary Lou Williams' unique position as
the female jazz musician, it may very well
be Barbara Carroll. Miss Carroll has been
around for some years delighting late living
New Yorkers as she developed and polished
her talents. Now, given this handsome
showcasing by Victor, she shines forth
splendidly, still showing traces of some of
her sources but, all in all, definitely her own
woman.

Miss Carroll is a wonderfully logical
pianist who builds the musical line of her
ideas with deliberation and carries them out
to their inevitable conclusion. She has a
strong, sure attack when called for, as in
Good Bait, or a delicate and evocative ap-
proach, as in Goodbye. She can make a
unique use of dissonance in her excellent
version of Mountain Greenery or, in her
lilting manner, inject more melody into
Lullaby of Broadway than really seems to
belong there.

She has picked up Erroll Garner's trick
of lagging just behind the beat at times
but she plays with more delicacy than Gar-
ner and, in her quite Garnesque slow treat-
ment of What's the Use of Wond" rin, her
playing is looser and more venturesome than
Garner's and less tied to formula. There is,

too, an occasional strain of George Shearing
but it is all stamped with her own orderly,
imaginative and sparkling musical per-
sonality. She has been recorded at natural,
or room, temperature.

COUNT BASIE BIG BAND

Clef mg c-148. 10-in. 25 min. $3.85.

Cash Box; Tom Whaley; No Name; Redhead;
Jack and Jill; Basie Talks; Bunny; Bootsie.

Count Basie's current venture with a big
band has been highly touted in some
quarters, including the liner of this LP, but
this disk hardly provides evidence of its
great merit. The numbers tend to follow a
distressing pattern: An opening statement
(usually a riff) of at least moderare interest
and including a little of Basie's piano, after
which the band bogs down in a musical
void of repetitious rifling. No Name and Red-
head have something of the definition and
form that one looks for from Basie but
little can be said for the empty work on
the rest of the selections. In fact, little can
be said for a Basie record on which the
Count is kept under wraps most of the time.

John S. Wilson

THE SPOKEN WORD

HEARING POETRY

Narrated by Mark van Doren, with readings
by Hurd Hatfield, Frank Silvera, Jo Van
Fleet. Directed by Howard O. Sackler.

Volume I: Chaucer through Milton
(Chaucer: Prologue to the Legend of Good
Women, selections; Spencer: Fresh Spring;
Marlowe: Dr. Faustus, last scene; Dekker:
Patient Grissell: basketmaker's song; Shakes-
peare: Midsummer Night's Dream, Act II,
Scene 1; Shakespeare: Hamlet: "O What a
Rogue . . ."; Jonson: Volpone, Act III,
Scene 8; Donne: Death Be Not Proud; The
Bait; Herbert: The Collar; Milton: Lycidas.
(Text included).

Caedmon TC 1021. 12-in. 54 min. $4.95.

Volume II: Dryden through Browning.
Dryden: Tyrannic Love, epilogue; Absalom
and Achitophel, selections; Congreve: Way
of the World, Act IV, Scene 1; Pope: Essay

Blake. As gripping as a Beethoven Quartet
is the Silvera reading of Tiger, Tiger.

on Criticism, selections; Blake: Sengs of
Innocence and Experience; Coleridge: The
Ancient Mariner, Part 2; Wordsworth: The
Prelude, first book; I Wandered Lonely as a
Cloud; Keats: Ode on a Grecian Urn; Shelley:
Adonais, selections; Byron: Don Juan, selec-
tions; Browning: My Last Duchess. (Text
included).

Caedmon tc 1022. 12-in. 58 min. $4.95.

The space expended above, detailing the
contents of these two records, is not
wasted. If anyone is tempted by any of the
selections cited, he had better buy the
whole lot without further delay. The pro-
duction is so near perfect that it brooks no
qualification. The two young women who
run Caedmon Publishers, Barbara Cohen and
Marianne Roney, began their undertaking
by attending a poetry-recital promoted by
W. H. Auden at the Museum of Modern Art,
last year. Afrer the recital, they approached
one of the recitalists, the young poet How-
ard Sackler, and described to him what they
had in mind. He loved their idea. Then
they lined up Mr. Van Doren, also a poet.
Van Doren prepared the continuity. Sackler
prepared the actors who do the readings,
conducting them much in the manner of
Robert Shaw leading his Chorale.

The question is not whether or not the
inner ear can better interpret, say, Act IV,
Scene 1 of Congreve's Way of the World, a
wickedly well-turned bit of sophistication,
than can Jo Van Fleet and Hurd Hatfield.
It is whether or not the reader ever would
seek out and reread the book. This reader
(or reviewer) is frank to say he probably
would not. So far as concerns the Congreve
excerpt, this may not matter much. But it
does matter when the poem under considera-
tion is Blake's Tiger, Tiger, or Milton's
Lycidas. Either of these is listening-matter as
important and as gripping as Beethoven's
Quartet No. 11, Opus 95, for instance, or
as the great Schubert Quintet in C. It is
hard to realize that something we use daily
for routine purposes is also one of the half-
dozen greatest artistic media in the whole
history of the human race, yet it is so. Get
acquainted with it. It is called the spoken
English Language. J. M. C.

THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINK-
ING

Narrated by Norman Vincent Peale
RCA Victor lm 1794. 12-in. $5.72.

One of the most significant phenomena in
American life is the ever increasing ten-
dency for a single idea or creative achieve-
ment to spread upward and outward through
every communicative medium until it has
reached everyone no matter where he is and
what he does. Before a creation such as
The Caine Mutiny, for instance, is gently
laid to rest or has the good fortune to be-
come a classic, it will more than likely turn
up in many or all of the following forms —
as a book; pocketbook; movie; Broadway
play; newspaper serial; magazine digest;
television program; radio program and
phonograph record.

The phonograph record is a relative new-
comer but the nature and extent of recent
releases leave little doubt that it has become
a solid link in the lengthening chain of idea
spreaders. The most recent example is a
Victor recording by Dr. Norman Vincent

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

Peale, whose ideas have already been given
wide circulation through a syndicated news-
paper column, a radio program, an article
in Coronet and a best-selling book. The
record is a vocal capsule, prescribed plea-
santly enough by Dr. Peale, containing the
essence of Dr. Peale's own thinking on
positive thinking. The wisdom in most of
the things which Dr. Peale says can hardly
be denied, but somehow they sound un-
comfortably familiar and commonplace. This
is not particularly surprising, in that most of
his philosophizing stems from the Bible
and largely reiterates the content of a flood
of self-help books which began a few years
back with Joshua Liebman's Peace of Mind.
However, there can be little doubt that the
things Dr. Peale talks about are troubling a
lot of people; the appearance of his book,
the Power of Positive Thinking on the New
York Times best-seller list for 82 weeks is
evidence enough. R. H. H.,Jr.

AN ANTHOLOGY OF RHETORIC

Outstanding Speeches by Famed Orators of
the Past Fifty Years.

B & B Documentary Records, b & b 4.
12-in. $5.95.

The talent which Edward R. Murrow and
Alfred Friendly bring to Columbia's "You
Can Hear It Now" series can best be ap-
preciated after hearing such a record as the
"Anthology of Rhetoric." For here is all
the raw material: great speeches by great
orators in surprisingly good reproduction.
But somehow they fail to excite, they fail to
create that sense of significance we have
come to expect, in our spoken history. But
perhaps I miss the point and am expecting
too much from a "documentary" record.
The speeches certainly stand by themselves
as examples of great spoken rhetoric and
those of you who would as lief have your
history straight and unMurrowed will find
the following program, contained on the
record, not without interest: Franklin D.
Roosevelt — "War Message to Congress,"
1941; Winston Churchill, excerpts from war
speeches; Herbert Hoover -"War and
Youth"; Henry Cabot Lodge, speaking
against U. S. membership in the League of
Nations; William Howard Taft — "On
Labor"; Woodrow Wilson — "Democratic
Principles"; Theodore Roosevelt — "Youth
and the Progressive Party"; William Jen-
nings Bryan — "Immortality."

R. H. H.,Jr.

BIRTH OF A BABY
Capitol h 480. 10-in. $2.98.

This is indeed a most unusual record. As
the title suggests, it permits the listener
to eavesdrop on the borning of a baby from
the very first step, well almost the first,
to the last — a very audible pat on the
you-know-where. Accompanying the actual
doctorial comments and instructions is a
detailed description of the baby's emer-
gence into the brave new world of elec-
tronics. Although the record is in every
sense documentary, made simply by put-
ting a microphone in the operating room
of a Madison, Wisconsin hospital, thete is
some question in my mind as to just what
the point is and considerable question as to
whether it is in very good raste, even if
there is a point. 1 must confess the whole

June, 1954

Jobann Strauss. For the kiddies — a musical
biography to charm and broaden the horizon

thing gave me an uncomfortable feeling,
particularly when the mother commenced
her intermittent groaning in the final stages
of labor. The proceedings weren't improved
any by the breathless young announcer who
introduced each side of the record as if he
were commentator for "You Were There" —

"Two nurses have just wheeled the mother
into the delivery room itself . . . now the obste-
trician has finished washing and is entering
the room . , . we take you now to the doctor who
is standing by one of our microphones ..."

Take it away doctor!

R. H. H.,Jr.

CHILDREN'S RECORDS

Stephen Foster. His Story and His Music

(VOX VL 2620. 33 rpm. 10-in. $4.00)

Johann Strauss. His Story and His Music

(Vox vl 2590. 33 rpm. 10-in. J4.oo)

These are the latest in the Vox Music Master
series on the lives and music of great com-
posers. Both are fine. They broaden the
child's horizons and charm him in the
process. The Foster record appeals to a
wider age range — from five on up — be-
cause his story is more sentimental (his
song title "Dear Hearts and Gentle People"
fits himself), and his songs are more familiar.
The Strauss biography, with John Loder as
narrator, is more dramatic. The Vox Sym-
phony Orchestra, rolling, surging, receding
through excerpts of the most popular
Strauss compositions, is not the least of the
record's attractions.

All the Pretty Little Horses
(COLUMBIA J4-191. 45 rpm. 98^.)

Rosemary Clooney sings persuasively that
it's time to go to sleep, that all the other
animals are going to sleep, including the
pretty little horses. On the back, Brahms'
Lullaby. She has the good taste to sing
them straight.

Bozo's Merry-Go-Round Music
(Capitol CASF-3173. 45 rpm. $1.00)
The furniture suffers from this record. Put

it on and the children gallop around the
room. Musically, though the record's good.
It really sounds like a merry-go-round and
the selections, "Our Director" march and
"Ciribiribin" are perfect for merry-go-
rounding and, resignedly, living room gal-
loping.

Bozo's Nursery Songs

(Capitol cas-3 1 54. 78 rpm. 10-in. $1.00)

The old rocking chair's got Bozo, at least
temporarily. This is pretty tame stuff and
he seems to know it. However he makes a
brave show of singing "Little Jack Horner,"
"Oats, Peas, Beans," and such favorites.
The kittens, the lion, and the jolly giraffe
(who sounds as if's gargling) help Bozo out.
It's a harmless record and the pre-schoolers
like it. (Are there any records for their age
level which pre-schoolers don't like?) Per-
sonally, we have a feeling most nursery
songs sound best when sung by children.

Favorite French Children's Songs
(Vox vl 2490, 33 rpm. 10-in. $4.00)

This record should be valuable and appeal-
ing to children who are studying French but
the type we're related to (Infans ignorans)
complained wildly, "We don't know what
they're singing about." (The reviewer's
translation didn't help.) The songs range
from the strictly American "Who's Afraid
of the Big Bad Wolf?" or, if you please,
"Qui Craint le Grand Mfchant Loup?', to
such French traditionals as "Frire Jacque"
and "Auprfs de ma Blonde." Paulette Rollin
and chorus sing them musically. (A six-year-
old, conceding this, added charitably, "I
guess they just made a mistake. They meant
to send it to France.") It's also nice for its
conversational-piece qualities.

Hopalong Cassidy and the Sheep Rustlers
(Capitol cas-3 197- 45 rpm. Ji.oo)

The biggest gap between the adult and
child mind, it seems to us, is in their ap-
preciation of humor. For example, this
record had a group of six-year-olds in stitches
because an Indian Chief keeps calling Hopa-
long, "Jumpalong." The story follows a
well-worn path, still pleasing to the four-
to-seven year olds, especially if its raining
and the television set is broken.

Walt Disney's Pinoccbio

(Capitol CAS-3203. 45 rpm. $[.oo.)

This extremely sketchy rendition of the book
catches enough of the flavor to entertain
the under-seven's.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

(Capitol CAS-3094. Two 45 rpm. records.
$1.88.)

An abrupt and rather silly ending ("He
kicked him square in the pants.") tends to
spoil this potentially delightful fairy tale.
Also, Don Wilson, an excellent cigarette
salesman, seems very ill at ease in the role of
storyteller. The music, performed by the
1NR Symphony Orchestra, is good, very
exciting and black magical in mood. It
sweeps the imagination along despite flaws
in the story. SALLY McCasliN

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

Schubert cm Mtcngmw-WS't

l y C. G. BURKE
Pari I: Orchestral, Instrumental

J_N SEPTEMBER, 195 1, the second issue of HIGH
Fidelity, then a quarterly, devoted a few modest pages
to the first of its discographies. Schubert was the subject,
and 106 record-sides were discussed. In the ensuing 33
months, about 250 additional sides have been produced,
and the original discography is too meager to be of any use.

Hence this modernization. No doubt it too, in good
time, will attain obsolescence, but if Schubert records
keep to the birthrate of the last three years, the new dis-
cography will be at the end of a like period still 60 per-
cent complete, against the 17 percent of its predecessor.

Some of the 195 1 text (including portions of the bio-
graphical introduction) has been retained where it is still
applicable and where the writer feels that he could not
improve it by a second trial. Apologies are offered to the
charter subscribers who may have read the original, in the
hope that they will not mind being afflicted with some
repetition. But there is not much of it, and the records
themselves, old and new, have of course been freshly
compared.

The greatest composers in some number have died in
Vienna — we cannot say by choice, but from a resigned and
poetic sense of appropriateness: accepting the disagree-
able inevitability of the event, they so placed themselves
that their failing mortality would be ready in the city most
propitious for nascent immortality.

Alone of the great, Franz Schubert was born in Vienna:
he died there too soon after his birth. Thirty-one years
encompassed this life empty of all but music. Our world
has to no other human source returned so little for so vast
a delivery of solace. The six hundred Songs, the ten Sym-
phonies, the fifteen Quartets, the dozens of Sonatas, the
Trios and Quintets for which there are no adjectives, and
the hundreds of artless instinctive utterances in nearly all
musical forms do not attain the monstrous volume of
Handel's or Mozart's production; but those predecessors
had more years for their work and a most thorough train-
ing in their art, besides influential patrons.

The man — who until three or four years from the end
was always a boy — gushed music, and more tears have
been gushed over him than for anyone else who ever ar-
ranged tones in formation. This grief is correct: the
beset Vienna of the French Revolutionary wars and Bona-
parte's conquests gave too much grief to her thousands
of slaughtered soldiers to keep compassion for a hungry

composer; and the uneasy, cynical Vienna of the Metter-
nich repression after the Congress, sentimental and mellow
on the surface, had developed a case-hardened heart from
adversities too general to leave room for a lament for one
tragedy, even were it Franz Schubert's.

He won recognition, even fame, very early: God knows
that the youth who composed the Erlkonig could not
have been unacknowledged. He had that recognition from
the small number of people who could discern him, and
nowadays some commentators think that this was enough
for him, and that since occasionally his fees were not
derisory, his poverty was not excessive.

He was undersized, ugly, myopic and often ailing. His
incomplete education and bourgeois drabness, and his
aesthetic predilections were disparate, contradictory and
over-catholic except in music, where a mysterious com-
pulsion that cannot be understood made the badly trained
boy into a man unique in music.

He had no real love, and he had no money beyond the
requirements of a week. He was excessive in generosity
and avid for love, and dispensed on friendship the sti-
pends received for an outpouring of masterpieces. His
quarters were wretched and cafes were his salons.

He was obscured by the enormous shadow of Beethoven
whom he worshiped with an intensity of admiration
which made him speechless in Beethoven's presence, the
only time he was there. He was brightly naive with an en-
dearing simplicity: he seems to have had no envy and
he never repined until the shadows began to touch him.

He was instinct with music, and in both popular and
learned estimation the most essentially, inescapably, musi-
cal of musicians: "Le musicien le plus petite que jamais,"
Liszt said, and we all approve and half-understand what
the paltry composer who received everything meant about
the supreme composer who received nothing. He meant
the quality, the poignancy, the pertinence, of the Schu-
bertian melody. Melody is the rarest gift; and the rarest gift
was so abundantly disposed in Schubert that he could
and did lavish superfluous tunes in compositions already
thoroughly larded. He was incapable of calculation and
his music flowed spontaneously. His distaste for the
elaborations of agony revealed in the sketchbooks of his
titanic coeval Beethoven is known; for with Schubert
composition was not work but spiritual necessity.

Deep in this untutored, simple candor, darker under-
standings emerged to tint his music. The imprint of

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

death is on much of it — not only in those places where
death is his subject, but in the formal, abstract movements
of classical compositions: the slow movements of the
Second Trio and the G Major Quartet, the great Quintet
in C, the last sonatas, the first movement of the last Sym-
phony. Suffering seeped from his music incongruously,
certainly often against his inclination, when he thought
himself happy: in the Trio of the Marcbe Militaire, in
several of the impromptus, in scores of little dance-pieces.
He wrote hysterical scherzos encased by sunlight; and
he would end three bubbling movements with one of
frightening protestation. He seems not to have recog-
nized the delapidation of his life, but his music did, re-
ceiving therefrom its imprint of despair. From 1797 to
1828 he had 31 years to live, and after 1820 his music
begins to count the ones left.

It is possible to sift Schubert's work and find a class of
delightful compositions altogether carefree, and another
class preponderantly dark. More often the shades are
confounded in a wonderful ambiguity, where distress,
decked in a candid profusion of natural melody and

paraded in lively metres, seems like something else or like
music aloof from anything else.

Only five records, besides those under the Royale label,
have evaded this discography at its commencement. If
they have not arrived by completion, their titles will be
inscribed in parentheses. Royales are not included because
the manufacturer prefers not to submit them to competi-
tion. Withdrawals of Schubert records have been numerous
during the last two years. In a few cases, editions withdrawn
from circulation compare favorably with those remaining.
Where this is true the record will be distinguished by an
asterisk, against the possibility that a copy can be obtained
from a dealer's stocks. Disks suppressed by their sponsors
for more obvious reason are ignored here.

According to the custom of these discographies, the
writer's preferences, prescribed by the chemistry of his
experience, prejudice and thought, are revealed by the
position of disks in the column, the more favored the
higher. Certain necessary exceptions to this procedure
have been declared where they occur.

ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

(Here are entered all the recorded ex-
amples of Schubert's orchestral works now
— or still — available on LP. However,
vocal works with orchestral accompaniment
will be found under Vocal Music, and a few
items in orchestration not by Schubert are
included in the present section.)

Symphonies

(We know that Schubert started work on
nine symphonies and perhaps ren. We know
rhat he completed at least seven, for we have
the scores intact. We have also the auto-
graphs of two incomplete: the great one in
B Minor that we Call The "Unfinished,"
and one in E sketched in 182 1, finished by
the late Felix Weingartner in 1934. Schu-
bert may have written another Symphony
in 1824, for he at least announced that he
would, but there is no score of it. Some
musicologists have assumed that the Grand
Duo, Op. 140, for piano four-hands, is a
reduction of this Symphony that may or
not have been written. The phantom is
known as the Gastein Symphony because
if Schubert wrote it as he proclaimed he
would, the writing would have taken place
at Gastein. At any rate, we have two re-
cordings of it, and one of the Grand Duo,
the symphonic versions being orchestra-
tions of the Duo by musicians who found
the Duo more orchestral than pianistic,
hence the lost Symphony.

(Naturally, conjecture abuses numeration.
Without evidence that a Gastein Symphony
exists, historians would be prudent to as-
sume that Schubert composed nine. Numer-
ation would then follow the chronology of
their composition, which is known; and
we should then find that the numbers fami-
liar during the last three decades are satis-
factory and serviceable. Numbers 1 to 6
are still 1 — 6; the last, the huge Symphony
in C, is No. 9; the great "Unfinished" is
No. 8; and the Weingartner-finished one in

June, 1954

E is No. 7. The Grand Dub, orchestrared
or not, is the Grand Duo.)

No. I, IN D (3 Editions)
Schubert at 16, full of Haydn but already
Schubert. Three disappointing records.
The lively Woss performance, though rough,
has some appeal; but the sound is bad. The
Oceanic recording is plainly rhe best, but
the Oceanic conductor, Mr. Leibowitz, is
swift, superficial and apparently not in con-
trol of his orchestra. Dr. Swoboda, much
more at home with the music than Mr. L.,
with a better sound than Mr. W., but not
a very clear sound, has the most desirable
version, but not desirable enough for us to
lament its withdrawal. Wait.
(*) Winterthur Symphony Orchestra, Henry
Swoboda, cond. Concert Hall CHS 23.
12-in. 3o min. Was $5.45.
— Paris Radio Orchestra, Rene Leibowitz,
cond. Oceanic 33. 12-in. (with Bizet:
Symphony). 24 min. $5.95.
— Viennese Symphony Orchestra, Kurt
Woss, cond. Remington 199-2. 12-in.
(with Mozart: Fantasy, KV 608). 26 min.
$2.99.

No. 2, IN B Flat (4 Edirions)
Written two years later than No. 1, this
one is decidedly more mature, although like
its predecessor it imitates Haydn. Abun-
dant in Schubertian tunes and rhythms, and
sturdily scored, it is far above condescen-
sion, and the third and fourth movements
are exuberantly inventive. The Barlow rec-
ord may be disregarded because of the con-
gested acoustics of the old registration. The
others are valuable, Mr. Steinberg and the
Pittsburghers outstanding in the most ani-
mated and decisive performance and splen-
did reproduction. Mr. van Hoogstraren has
an easier beat, most successful in rhe slow
movement: he gives a pleasant narrative
in a casual way and enjoys vivid reproduc-
tion not free of flutter, Mr. Munch's work
with the Bostonians is pretty massive for
this Symphony, which, although not a
trifle, is not an epic eithet; but as so often

with this orchestra it is hard not to suc-
cumb to the lambent euphony of their notes
as they make them, even when their leader-
ship distributes the emphases of those notes
in a way to beckon criticism.
— Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William
Steinberg, cond. Capitol S 8162. 12-in.
(with Sym. 8). 25 min. $5.95.
—Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Wil-
lem van Hoogstraten, cond. Period 517.
12-in. (with Sym. 3). 3o min. $5.95.
— Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles
Munch, cond. RCA Victor lm 9032. 12-in.
(with Sym. 8). 26 min. $5.72.
— Columbia Broadcasting Orchestra, How-
ard Barlow, cond. Columbia-Entree rl
3oio. 12-in. (with Humperdinck: Suite from
"Hansel und Gretel"). 26 min. $2.98.

No. 3, IN D (3 Editions)
Original and lively, bold and tuneful, with
a finale of blustering jocularity and a boozy
minuet of Beethovenian insistence, the Sym-
phony nevertheless very seldom appears on
the programs of our orchestras. Performing
honors on the records are for the alert and
generous mobility of Mr. van Hoogstraten,
and sonic laurels are certainly London's,
especially in the sting of timbre. Reproduc-
tive quality does not evict any of the three,
but Mr. Singer's finale is carefully tame in
his handling. Mr. Johnson holds firm and
shoots straight: discophiles affected more
by recording merit than by interpreration
will prefer his version.

—Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Wil-
Iem van Hoogstraten, cond. Period 517.
12-in. (with Sym. 2). 20 min. $5.95.
— Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Thor
Johnson, cond. London LL 405. 1 2-in.
(with J. C. Bach: Sinfonia for Double Or-
chestra). 22 min. $5.95.
— Austrian Symphony Orchestra, George
Singer, cond. Remington 199-110. 12-in.
(with Haydn: Sym. 93). 23 min. $2.99.

Ne. 4, in C Minor, "Tragic" (7 Editions)
Two versions of rhis sensationally in-
dividualistic wotk, a marvel for a lad —

www.americanradiohistorv.com

even Schubert — not yet 20, must be put at
the bottom of the column for sonic flaws
resulting from their age. No one will find
perfection in the remaining five perform-
ances. Mr. Hewitt, decided and forceful,
takes the andante fast as part of his plan,
and although the plan is admirable the
andante loses some of its juices. The
Freilassing performance is decidedly com-
mendable in the crisp realization of its
vigorous determination to present the sym-
phony in scrupulous adherence to what the
score seems most plainly to mean. Tricks
of tempo are not necessary to make this
music effective. There is conflict in the
sonic projection: the general impression is
of raw tone, but in spite of this, the harmonic
bloom is most apparent here and the choirs
are in excellent balance. Furthermore, the
important horns are given full voice, and
this is not true of most of the competing
versions. Mr. Woss is proper but hardly
illuminating except in the finale, taut and
dramatic. Mr. Sacher, painstaking and
studied, loses effect in the very slow an-
dante, and his orchestra has been precari-
ously engraved, sometimes full-fleshed and
healthy, intermittently a little ulcerous in
distortion. The Beinum interpretation,
squarely angular in the first movement,
annoying but not unimposing — being
clorhed in a rich drapery of sound — stoops
to grotesqueness in its retardation of the
scherzo-minuet, already odd enough in irs
dogged chromatics. Mr. Hewitt is then the
most satisfactory, and the sound given to
him, is, with the Beinum sound of a larger
orchestra, considerably fuller and brighter
than that of three versions, and smoother
than Remington's, here in the middle.
— Hewitt Orchestra, Paris, Maurice Hewitt,
cond. Haydn Society 89. 12-in. (with
Sym. 8). 27 min. $5.95.
— Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Wolfgang
Freilassing, cond. ORFEO 10. 12-in. 28.
min. $5.45-

— Austrian Symphony Orchestra, Kurt
Woss, cond. Remington 199-37- 12-in.
27 min. $2.99.

(*) Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Paul
Sacher, cond. Program 704. 12-in. 3i
min. Was $5.95.

— Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam,
Eduard van Beinum, cond. LONDON LL 736.
12-in. 28 min. $5.95.
— Lamoureux Orchestra, Paris, Otto Klem-
perer, cond. Vox PL 7860. 12-in. (with
Mendelssohn: Sym. 4). 26 min. $5.95.
— Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Kurt
Eichorn, cond. MERCURY 10054. 12-in.
33 min. $4.85.

No. 5, in B Flat (6 Editions)
Disarmingly blythe in a tender sentimen-
tality, employing Mozartean devices more
than in Schubert heretofore, the second B
Flat Symphony is a compact little work of
art requiring no great insight for a good
execution, but fluency, grace and restraint
to make an execution memorable. On
records there are two memorable and four
acceptable performances. Sir Thomas
Beecham and the late Fritz Busch have
given little lessons in liquid leadership, with
particularly deft playing in the former's
orchestra. The Beecham disk has been
remade from 78's about 15 years old, and
has some of the fustiness of sound that old.
The Busch record, now withdrawn, is tonally

emaciated. Of the rest, Mr. Paulmiiller's
pleasant performance is mortally hurt by
screeching violins, Mr. van Beinum has a
thick sound, and at the date of that record-
ing London could never resist the bisection
of an andante; and the Rieger production
has nothing to attract plaudits. Remains
Prof. Moralt, with a performance sensuous
rather than elegant, but the only one whose
orchestra sounds truly orchestral.
— Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf
Moralt, cond. Vox PL 7280. 12-in. (with
17 German Dances). 25 min. $5.95.
— London Philharmonic Orchesrra, Sir
Thomas Beecham, cond. Columbia ml
4771. 12-in. (with Haydn: Sym. 104). 25
min. $5.95-

(*) Winterthur Symphony Orchestra, Fritz

Busch, cond. Concert Hall chs 61.

12-in. (with Mendelssohn: Scherzo from

Octet). 25 min. Was $5.45.

— Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam,

Eduard van Beinum, cond. LONDON LS

2^3. 10-in. 23 min. $4.95.

— Austrian Symphony Orchestra, Alexander

Paulmuller, cond. Remington 199-86.

12-in. (with Mendelssohn: Calm Sea and

Prosperous Voyage). 27 min. $2.99.

— Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Fritz

Rieger, cond. Mercury 15029. 10-in.

24 min. $3.85.

No. 6, in C (3 Editions)
Our knowledge of Schubert arrived back-
wards. Little of his production had been
published when he died, and the wonder-
ful, fortuitous discoveries, after his death
had long left him forgotten, of heaps of
unplayed, unprinted masterpieces, secured
for the greatest of these rhe first disclosures
in performance. Naturally. But the great-
est works were so great that they obscured
those not so great; and the latter, eventually
brought out for public display, were patron-
izingly received because their substance was
less mature than the music written later.
Condescension became a habit, then a creed.
People who had never heard the earlier
works, except the early songs — which might
have taught them circumspection — swal-
lowed the hearsay that they were paltry.
All the symphonies except two suffered
from this libel, until the phonograph at last,
in its insatiable need for repertory, resusci-
tated the music to disprove the slander.

Symphony No. 6 is a great symphony
without pretensions to greatness, or the
dimensions or profundity associated with
greatness. It is light music, inimitable,
sparkling and vociferous, with a piquant
naivete' of idea accompanying its confident
skill of construction.

Unfortunately the records are faulty, in
spite, of one stunning performance. That
is the work of Mr. Alfons Dressel, no
celebrity here, but obviously the only one
of the three conductors to analyse the score,
work his imagination over the analysis,
prepare his orchestra to his intensions, and
remain in domination for their realization.
Presumably he has specialized in this Sym-
phony. It requires a repeated effort to
comprehend just how well Mr. Dressel's
energy and alertness have succeeded, for at
first hearing one is conscious primarily of
the rather wiry sound of the orchestra,
symphonic in scope but hard in impact.
This is the poorest recording as such, Mr.
Wdss's being the best, but after the Dressel

performance the others in contrast seem
feminine or even flaccid.
— Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Alfons Dres-
sel, cond. Mercury 15003. 10-in. 31
min. $3.85.

— Austrian Symphony Orchestra, Kurt
Woss, cond. Remington 149-30. 10-in.
29 min. $1.99.

— London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips,
cond. London LL21. 12-in. 27 min. $5.95.

No. 7, IN E (Restored by Weingartner)
(1 Edition)

There is not room here for an account of
the remarkable manuscript of this Sym-
phony sketched in 1821, of which the entire
introduction and part of the opening allegro
are completely scored, and the rest is indi-
cated, with every bar drawn and the themes
written in, but with the measures otherwise
hollow save for many notations for in-
dividual instruments. The music must
have been explicit in Schubert's mind, and
the skeletal score is much more informa-
tive than most fragments, but not until
1934, when Felix Weingartner completed
it, did anyone attempt to put the Symphony
into playable form.

Now Weingartner, a superb conductor,
an able if uninspiring composer and a
thorough craftsman in classical orchestra-
tion, was not a Schubert, and the magic
latent in the subjects does not develop as
we should expect if the hands that started
the composing had finished it. There are
many beauties, particularly in the first two
movements, but the strength is not continu-
ous, and there is a vague effect of con-
straint. The recorded performance, to one
who does not know the score, seems smooth
and affectionate, with the dislike for excess
that characterizes Mr. Litschauer's work
agreeably evident. Reproduction is of
high order, vibrant in timbre, sufficiently
resonant and nice in detail, with the choirs
in realistic balance.

— Vienna National Opera Orchestra, Franz
Litschauer, cond. Vanguard 427. 12-in.
34 min. $5.95.

No. 8, in B Minor, "Unfinished"

(1 5 Editions)
Surely everyone knows this, whose only sin
has been that of exciting too much love.
No one knows why Schubert did not com-
plete it. Few works are as resilient, as com-
plaisant to conductors' ways, as the Unfin-
ished. Fast or slow, taut or slack, furious
or resigned, as the man with the stick drives
it, its mystery remains tough and intact.
It can be tarnished by slickness, but not
corroded.

With 15 recordings, there is no place for
dogmatism of opinion. This writer prefers
an "Unfinished" urgent, palpitating and
rebellious in the allegro, and the andante
ethereal in resignation. This means a fast
rather than a slow pace, and it involves
strong contrasts and a considerable scope
of dynamics. But there is no reason to en-
tertain the writer's preference for one type
of interpretation above preference for an-
other type. A difference of concept between
conductors does not necessarily mean that
one is in error. Failure to realize a concept
can be disqualifying. In the present case
two of the slow performances, Jochum and
Lehmann, are imposing. — The duration
as indicated in the tabulation below can be

High Fidelity Magazine

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RECORDS

BEETHOVEN

MISSA SOLEMNIS

TOSCANINI

The Companion Piece
to Beethoven s "Ninth"

"It comes from the heart, may it reach the heart"
. , . these are the words Heethoven wrote on the
Opening page of his AMssa Solemnh. It remained
for Toscanini to reveal their full meaning.

Through Toscanini's genius we are touched
and inspired by this magnificent music. Recorded
by RCA Victor in the matchless sound of "New
Orthophonic" High Fidelity the Mtssa Solemnh
stands forth in its true grandeur.

The performance features the NBC Symphony
Orchestra, distinguished soloists and the Robert
Shaw Chorale. Accompanying program notes are
by Ernest Newman, international music critic.

With complete Latin text and English transla-
tion; print of Diirer's "Praying Hands" suitable
for framing. On two Long Play records.

t tll Anniversary of "45 Victrolas" and Records

, the only system that plays all kinds of recorded music

rca\/ictor

FIRST IN RECORDED MUSIC

June, 1954

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RECOKIJ.S

Dialing Your Disks

Records are made with che treble range
boosted to mask surface noise, and the bass
range reduced in volume to conserve groove
space and reduce distortion. When the
records ate played, therefore, treble must be
reduced and bass increased to restore the
original balance. Unfortunately, the amount
of treble emphasis and bass deemphasis
employed by v.rious manufacturers is not at
all consistent; hence the need for individual
and variable bass (turnover) and treble
(rolloff) equalization controls. Control
positions on phono equalizers are identified

in different ways, too, but equivalent mark-
ings are listed at the top of each column in
the rable below. This table covers most of
the records sold in America during the past
few years, with the emphasis on LP. Some
older LPs and 78s required 800-cycle turn-
over; some foreign 78s are recorded with
3oo-cycle turnover and zero or 5-db treble
boost. One-knob equalizers should be set
for proper turnover, and the treble tone
control used for further correction if re-
quired. In all cases, the proper settings of
controls are those that sound best.

TURNOVER

ROLLOFF AT 10KC

400

^00

^00 (mod.)

10. 5 - 1 3. 5 db

16 db

RIAA

AES

RCA

NARTB

ORTHO

RCA

NAB (old)

NAB

COL

ORTHO

COL

N ARTB

Record Label

AES (old)

AES (new)

LON

ORIG. LP

Angel

Atlantic 1

Amer. Rec. Soc.

Bartok

Blue Note Jazz

Boston

Caedmon

Canyon

Capitol 2

Capitol-Cetra 2

Cerra-Soria

Colosseum

Columbia

•

Concert Hall

Contemporary

Cook (SOOT)'

Decca

EMS

Electra

•

—

•

Epic

•

Esoteric

•

Folkways (most)

•

Good-Time Jazz

•

Haydn Soc.

•

London

•

Lyrichord, new'

•

Mercury

•

MGM

•

Oceanic

•

Philharmonia

•

Polymusic 1

•

RCA Victor

•

Remington

•

Tempo

•

Urania, most

•

Urania, some

•

Vanguard

•

Bach Guild

•

Vox

•

Westminster

•

■Binaural recordt produced on this label are recorded to NARTB standards on the outside band.
On the inside band, NARTB is used for low frequencies but the treble is recorded Mat, without pre-
emphasis.

'Older Capitol releases used the old AES curve.

3 Some older releases used the Columbia curve, others old AES.

misleading, since some of the conductors,
like Mr. Leinsdorf, have omitted the repeat
of the exposition in the first movement.

Columbia and Victor, under their various
labels, are responsible for no fewer than
eight editions, and seven other companies
have each produced one. It is pleasant to
note how few the really poor ones are. The
Schwarz and Bfihm disks are less than
distinguished, both with plodding, staccato
allegros and tedious andantes, the first re-
corded with whistling violins and the second
with background flutter. The orchestral
reproduction of Prof. Heger's romantic
luxury is unpleasant. The Boston Sym-
phony Orchestra piles up captivating tones
in Koussevirzky's uninhibited and uneven
interpretation, but there is little bite in
this mass of rich sound, and there is more
than enough flutter.

The rather echoic registration accorded to
Mr. Steinberg is clear nevertheless, and
there is nothing reprehensible in his com-
paratively subdued, sweet intetpretation.
The Furtwangler lyricism, serene and lovely,
admirable in its rounded proportions, is
disturbed in its quietude by a continuous
flutter. Three slow ones — Brown, Jochum,
Lehmann — may be equivalent in the mean
of their values; for if Mr. Brown hardly
surges out of stolidity, his orchestra has
been more cleanly engraved than the slow
but sensitive Jochum performance in a huge
sound and weighted bass, and is not ap-
proached by the dark coloration given to
Mt. Lehmann's unified, compassionate
treatment.

The remaining six are dramatic perform-
ances in satisfactory or better registrations:
they are the cream. Mr. Hewitt, with bright,
d ifferentiated sound, the second-best sound
of all, one of the two with ringing brass
timbre, is nervous rather than intense, a little
frivolous in his excitemenr. Solid reproduc-
tion matches Sir Thomas Beecham's solid
leadership. The Toscanini version is the
most cohesive, as direct as a bullet and as
dramatic: admirable, and generally well en-
graved, save for some hardness at forfa.
Eloquent, imaginative and withal tasteful,
Bruno Walrer, in a challenging but lyrical
interpretation in which repetitions are al-
ways a little alrered and the range of dy-
namics is vast, offers romanticism at its
best; and the recording, nearly six years on
LP, is still very true and thorough. Mr. Krips
is not so mobile, but he too contrives a
seductive Canrilena in vivid contrast with
formidable dramatics from the full band.
Preference is given to this version because
of a notably greater pungency in rhe or-
chesrral sonance as reproduced.

Preference over all goes to Mr. Leins-
dorf and the Columbia engineers who per-
mitted such clariry to the taut urgency of
his commanding display, which resembles
rather Mr. Toscanini's except in a looser
formation of its vertical structure. Crisp
phrase, short holds, brisk pace and decisive
accent are curiously accompanied by a har-
monic fleshiness marvelously decorating the
spare frame, but usually found in more
leisurely promenades. — The best sound is
here: big, clean mass, bright detail and
certain timbre, particularly of the trumpets
and trombones, usually dissembled ot ob-
scured.

— Rochester Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf,
cond. CoLUMBlA-Entree RL 3070. 12-in.

High Fidelity Magazine

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RECORDS

(with Mozart: Sym. 40). 19 min. $2.98.
— London Symphony Orchestra, Josef Krips,
cond, LONDON LS 209. 10-in. 22 min.
$4.95.

— Philadelphia Orchestra, Bruno Walter,
cond. Columbia ml 2010. 10-in. 22 min,
$4.00.

— NBC Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, cond.
RCA Victor lm 54. 10-in. 21 min. S4.67.
— Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas
Beecham, cond. Columbia ml 4474. 12-in.
(with Mozart: Sym. 37). 23 min. 15-95.
— Hewitt Orchestra, Paris, Maurice Hewitt,
cond. Haydn Society 89, 12-in. (with
Sym. 4). 25 min. I5.95.
— Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam,
Eugen Jochum, cond. Epic LC 3oo6. 12-in,
(with Mozart: Sym. 35). 27 min. $5.95.
— Salzburg Festival Orchestra, H, Arthur
Brown, cond. Remington 149-15. 10-in.
25 min. $1.99.

— Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Fritz Leh-
mann, cond. DECCA DL 9696. 12-in. (with
Handel: Fireworks Music). 27 min. $5.85. r
— Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm
Furtwiingler, cond. RCA Victor lhmv
1020. 12-in. (with a miscellany). 23 min,
*5-95-

— Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William
Steinberg, cond. Capitol s 8162. 12-in.
(with Sym. 2). 21 min. $5.95.
—Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Kous-
sevitzky, cond. RCA VICTOR LM 9032.
12-in. (with Sym. 2). 24 min. I5.72.
— Bamberg Symphony Orchesrra, Robert
Heger, cond. Mercury 10034. 12-in.
(with Rosamundt excerpts). 22 min. $4.85.
— Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl
Bohm, cond. Urania rs 7-9. 12-in. (with
Schumann: Manfred Ovt.).
- -Philharmonia Orchestra, Rudolf Schwarz.
cond. RCA Victor lbc 1047. 12-in. (with
Rosamunde Ovt. & Bizet: Arlisienne excerpts).
24 min. $2.98.

No. 9, in C (10 Editions)
This the culmination of Schubert's symphon-
ic writing is No. 10 if he wrote a "Gastein" I
Symphony. It used to be called No. 7,
and still often is, in a numeration accounting
for the seven complete symphonies only,
one that supports the legend thar the Un-
finished Symphony was the last work of a
dying composer, unfinished as the pen
slipped from his dying fingers. Even the
valuable Schwann catalog repeats this per-
plexity.

In estimating the recordings a special
effort was made, without success, to find a
place exactly right for the Mengelberg
version. The Nazi Netherlander played rhe
work in his fashion, with modifications of
tempo at will and underlining of accent.
There is no authorization for this except
the Mengelberg conscience, which was not
much; but he did love this music, and for
most of its duration his realization is more
telling than anyone else's. Note in ex-
ample his superb scherzo, so aggressively
metred; and immediately following the trio
dragged out in wholehearted barhos. A
magnificent warhorse, with this tarnished
cavalier mounted, but flecked with drool.
— The old sound is better than one would
think, and excellent for the prominent
brass, not prominent in true timbre in most
of the competing versions. There is blast-
ing at a few points, and the transfer from
78's has not been accomplished evenly,

June, 1954

but the close effect is imposing. In the
writer's opinion there is a measure of justi-
fication for conferring on this disk any of
the 10 ranks in the hierarchy of recordings.

Although there are 10 versions, Mengel-
berg's is the only one difficult to place,
and only two others are worth encomiums
as performances-on-records: the Furt-
wiingler and the Walter. Both of these em-
ploy modifications of tempo and stress, the
Walter subtly and repeatedly, the Furt-
wiingler obviously and portentously. These
are also the best reproductions of the or-
chestra, in spite of the good age of the
former. For poetic sensibility the Walter is
not challenged by any, but the very slow
pace of Prof. Furtwiingler has an inexorable
appeal of its own in this music, while the
sound of his edition is more Satisfactory
than any of the others. True, his trio limps
like Mengelberg's, but contextually it is
less disconcerting.

The Karajan performance is strong and
individual, excellent, and with very respon-
sive playing by the Vienna Philharmonic,
but the big sound has a boomy bass which
clouds detail. Prof. Heger is convincing
until the finale, when his accent is curiously
weak for the one-in-a-bar excitement. The
registration of this old one is remarkably
full, but there is a variety of background
noises. The Krips and Woss interpretations
are pretty grey, not bad but undistinguished.
Violin-shimmer hurts reproduction in the
first, and edged violins in the second. Curt
phrasing and accelerating tempos cheapen
Mr. Rother's work in a recording super-
ficially adequate but lacking timbre except
in the woods. The sound is poor in the
late Frederick Stock's sturdy performance.
Mr. Toscanini's hurry seems miraculously
misplaced.

— Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm
Furtwiingler, cond. DeCCA DX i 19. Two

Listen and Compare

two more "Natural Balance" Hi-Fi
achievements on Westminster

An All American recording:
American born composer —
American born conductor—
American Orchestra

COPLAND

APPALACHIAN SPRING (Ballet Suite)
EL SALON MEXICO
BILLY THE KID (Ballet Suite)
FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN

The National Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Howard Mitchell
WL 5286

These 2 works needed
a high fidelity interpretation

RIMSKY KORSAKOFF

THE GREAT RUSSIAN EASTER, OPUS 36
"ANTAR" SYMPHONIC SUITE, OPUS 9

London Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Hermann Scherchen
WL 5280*

•Nixa
Recording
—Recorded
by

Westminster
in

England,

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

12-in. (with Haydn: Sym. 88). 54 min.
J 1 1.70.

— N. Y. Philharmonic-Symphony Orches-
tra, Bruno Walter, cond. Columbia ml
4093. 12-in. 46 min. $5-95-
— Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam,
Willem Mengelberg, cond. Capitol P8040.
1 2-in. 50 min. $5.70.
— Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert
von Karajan, cond. Columbia ml 4631.
12-in. 47 min. J5.95.
— Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Robert
Heger, cond. Mercury 10075. 12-in.
52 min. $4.85.

— Concertgebouw Orchestta, Amsterdam,
Josef Krips, cond. LONDON LL 619. 12-in.
47 min. $5.95.

— Austrian Symphony Orchestra, Kurt
Woss, cond. Remington 199-48. 12-in.
49 min. $2.99.

— Radio Berlin Orchestra, Arthur Rother,
cond. Urania rs 7-1. 12-in. 48 min. $3.50.
— Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Frederick
Stock, cond. CoLUMBiA-Entree rl 3oo8.
12-in. 47 min. $2.98.
— NBC Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, cond.
RCA Victor lm 1040. 12-in. 43 min. $5.72.

In C (Orchestration of the Grand Duo,

Op. 140) (2 Editions)
It is implied that the Grand Duo is a reduc-
tion to piano-four hands of the symphony
that Schubert perhaps wrote at Gastein or
Gmunden, whose scote has never been
found. This is a brilliant conjecture, and
worth admiration as such. No evidence
has been found to support it, and none to
disprove it. The ptincipal premise for the
positive argument is the cleanliness of the
Grand Duo autograph, which was cettainly

copied from something. Why not from the
Gastein Symphony? (Or why not from the
working original of the Grand Duo?) A
subsidiary premise is that the Grand Duo is
ill-fitted for the keyboard, and therefore
essentially orchestral. But much of Schu-
bert's piano music defies conventionalism,
and the use of four hands in the Duo im-
plies that the composer knew that he had
something to say that a mere 10 fingers
could not signal. Finally, although inner
indications are not proof and neither are the
conclusions impelled by analogy, it is re-
markable how little like a symphony these
two orchestrations sound, and how entirely
unlike any of the symphonies undoubtedly
written by Schubert. In his symphonies
and in his orchestral music generally, the
composer made themes of the utmost
clarity, and entitely complete. Obliquity
and fragmentation of basic ideas are pre-
eminently found in the piano music, of
which much is improvisarory.

The music on the two disks is not identi-
cal. Mr. Prohaska plays an orchestration by
Joachim, polite and closer to Mendelssohn
than to Schubert, an arrangement according
to the Joachim predilections. Mr. Fekete
has chosen to record the reconstruction by
Dr. Fritz Oeser, a serious and largely suc-
cessful effort to match instruments to phrase
in the manner of the Schubert of the last
symphony. It is conscientious work and
there is no reason to object to it because the
Grand Duo, played by four hands on a
piano, is more imposing. Between the
Oeser and Joachim orchestrations, every-
thing favors the fotmer.

The records are thus not directly in com-
petition. Mr. Fekete leads with steady as-
sutance, effective as far as the music permits,
but there is a bad rumble in rhe disk, and
the violins are nasal. Mr. Prohaska's or-
chestra seems to have needed more time for
study of an unfamiliar score, but barring
some excess of echo the sound emerges
distinct and satisfactory.
— (Orchestration by Oeser) Salzburg Mozar-
teum Orchestra, Zoltan Fekete, cond.
Colosseum ioi3. 12-in. 37 min. $5.95.
—(Orchestration by Joachim) Vienna Na-
tional Opera Otchestra, Felix Prohaska,
cond. Vanguard 417. 12-in. 35 min.
$5-95-

Orchestral Miscellany

Fantasy in C, "Wanderer," Op. 15

(Orchestrated by Liszt) (1 Edition)
Versions of the Fantasy for piano alone, as
Schubert composed it, will be found under
instrumental Music. This is probably the
best music Liszt ever scored, and it is not
proper to say that he damaged it, although
its mysterious ambulations have been earth-
bound by the addition of an orchestra to the
piano. Liszt tried not to cheapen it, but
it has lost some character.

Mr. Johannesen plays as if solo, with
patent sensibility and resistance to display,
and Mr. Goehr, in the field where he is most
familiar, provides an accompaniment both
firm and symparhetic. First-class piano-
bass here, and fairly good treble; and the
piano is well adjusted to the orchestral
weight, but the orchestra sounds as if on
two planes, in a curious effect not unplea-
sant, but not right.

— Grant Johannesen, piano; Netherlands

High Fidelity Magazine

LONDON ffrr RECORDS proudly announce the
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Details ol the first release ore listed below. Ail items with full analytical material attached
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VOCAL MUSIC:
TRISTAN UNO ISOLDE-
Love Duet (Act 2) (Wagner)
Martha Modi 4 Wolfgang Windgassen
Orchestra of the Stodtische Oper, Berlin
Conductor: Arthur Rother LGX-66004 $5.95

TRISTAN UND ISOLDE-
Liebeftod (Act 3) (Wagner)

FIDELIO —

Abtcheulicher. wo eiltt du hin (Beethoven)
Martha Modi

Orchestra of the Stodtische Oper, Berlin
Conductor: Arthur Rother TM-48003 12.95

MACBETH—

Sleep Walking Scene (Verdi)
MACBETH —

La luce langue (Verdi)

DON CARLO-

O don fatal* (Verdi)

OSFEO—

Che faro tenia Euridice (Cluck)

Martha Modi

Orchestra of the Stodtische Oper, Berlin

Conductor: Hans Lowlein TM-48009 $2.95

FLYING DUTCHMAN—
Senta't Ballad (Wagner)

TANNHAUSER-

Dich, teure Halle (Wagner)

Maud Cuniti

Orchestra of the Stodtische Oper, Berlin
Conductor: Arthur Rother TM-68001 $2.95

FORZA DEL DESTINO—

Mod re pie toia vergine (Verdi)

FORZA DEL DESTINO—

Pace, pace mio Oio (Verdi)

Troute Richter

Orchestra of the Stodtische Oper, Berlin
Conductor: Arthur Rother TM-68006 $2.95

DEft VOGELHANDLER—
Vocal Gemt (Zeller)

Moud Cuniti— Emmy Loose— Karl Terkal—
Kurt Grosskurth

Orchestra of the Boyrischen Rundfunk
Conductor: Willy Motles TM-68006 $2.95

SYMPHONIC:

SYMPHONY No. 5 IN E MINOR—
"New World" (Dvorak)

Hons Schmidt— Isserstedt conducting
The Hamburg Stote Radio Symphony
Orchestra (NWDR) LGX-66007

$5.95

ORCHESTRA!:
SCHEHERAZADE—

Symphonic Suite (Rim$ky-Kor$akow)
From Andre conducting

L'Orchestre Symphonique de la Radiodiffusion
Notionole Beige LGX-66018 $5.95

SERENADE No. 10 IN B FLAT MAJOR FOR
13 WIND INSTRUMENTS
(K. 361) (Mozart)

Wind Ensemble of the RIAS Orchestra, Berlin
LGX-66006. $5.95

CONCERN:

CONCERTO IN C MAJOR FOR FLUTE,

HARP AND ORCHESTRA

(Mozart)

CONCERTO No. 1 IN G MAJOR FOR
FLUTE AND ORCHESTRA

(Mozart)

Willy Glass (flute) ond Rose Stein (horp)

South Germon Chamber Orchestra

Conductor: Rolf Reinhardt LGX-66019 $5.95

CHAMBER:

SONATA No. 5 IN F MAJOR FOR VIOLIN
AND PIANO —

"Spring" (Beethoven) (Opus 24)
SONATA No. 3 IN D MINOR FOR VIOLIN
AND PIANO

(Brohmt) (Oput 108)

Christian Ferras and Pierre Barbiiet

LGX-66014 $5.95

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

Philharmonic Orchestra, Walter Goehr,
cond. Concert Hall chs i 176. 12-in,
(with handler. Op. 171, and Rondo in A).
21 min. $5.95.

German Dances

The title covers a number of forms —
waltzes, contra-dances, landler, even min-
uets — and Schubert's production, much of
it early, was huge. Small, often improvised,
occasionally written for string quartet or
small orchestra, they belonged to a genre
beloved but not esteemed, and many have
been lost. It can be imagined without effort
how vital with melodious, rhythmic life
those are which are left, and how poetic,
romantic and evocative, how young and
festively melancholy, the best must always
be. The three records under consideration
do not contain the same music although
there is some overlapping, (These are
orchestrations: other dances are noted
under Instrumental Music) The Webern
arrangement is a superb concert- piece, an
integer and a jewel, however sadly sparkling.
Unfortunately it is cruelly played by Mr.
Leibowitz and harshly recorded. The group
presented by Mr. Litschauer has charm and
vivacity: it is brightly played and can be
heard in a satisfactory if overbright registra-
tion. Prof. Moralt has assembled many of
the most familiar dances into a procession
that cannot fail to soften the marrow of
listeners, in the cajoling Viennese style of
the playing and neat registration — after
the violins have been subdued the orchestra
is natural and near — of a Vox whose
overside is also worth having.
— (17 assorted dances) Vienna Symphony
Orchestra, Rudolf Moralt, cond. Vox PL
7280. 12-in. (with Sym. }), 17 min. 15.95.
— (5 Dances, 7 Trios and Coda) Vienna Na-
tional Opera Orchestra, Franz Litschauer,
cond. Vanguard 435. 12-in. (with
Mozart: Eine k. N.). 15 min. $5.95,
— (6 Dances arranged by Anton von Webern).
Paris Philharmonic Orchestra, Rene" Leibo-
witz, cond. Esoteric 512. 12-in. (with
Beethoven & Mozart: German Dances), 8
min. $5.95-

Rondo in A (1 Edition in this form)
Composed for solo violin and string quartet,
the cheerful early work has a recording in
that form as well as the present, which sup-
plants the string quartet by a string orchestra,
more effective. The Concert Hall presenta-
tion is amiable and guileless, attuned to the
music, spirited but not excited, not lavish
with beautiful tone, but few records for
strings alone are. Comfortable and pleas-
ant.

— Miriam Solovieff, violin; Vienna National
Opera Orchestra, Henry Swoboda, cond.
Concert Hall chs 1176. 12-in. (with
Fantasy, Op. if & Landler, Op. 171). 14 min.
*5-95-

ROSAMUNDS (i Edition and various sets

of excerpts)
There are more memorable tunes, tender or
enlivening, in the hour of Rosamunds, than
in any other musical hour to be recalled.
It is not possible to arrange the twelve beauti-
ful items associated with the title into an
ordination of relative merit. Nor is it pos-
sible not to feel contempt for the laziness of
music directors and conductors who are
able to offer — in concert as well as on

June, 1954

records — only three of the items for audi-
ences to hear. LP has done more to correct
such slovenly habits of repertory than any-
thing else, but paradoxically LP is equally
proficient at emphasizing them by repetition.
Overture ("Magic Harp"), Ballet No. 2
and Entr'acte No. 3 are what we are usually
given.

Rosamunde was composed as incidental
music to an inebriate play, one of those
sordid confections of early romanticism
which counterfeit imagination by concen-
trating the idiocies of a full dramatic season
into a single production. Since the music
includes four vocal numbers, its place in
this discography would be under Stage
Music except that only one record repro-
duces any of the vocal pieces. By good for-
tune, this is from all aspects, and by far,
the best presentation of the Rosamunde
music — any of the Rosamunde music —

and it contains it all. All, that is, when it is
understood that Schubert did not write an
overture for the play. The familiar swinging
one we know as the "Rosamunde" Over-
ture was written for something called The
Magic Harp; and the less-familiar one actu-
ally reclaimed by the composer for use with
Rosamunde was originally the Overture to
Alfonso und Estrella. The latter is the one
played by Mr. Dixon for the complete
Westminster recording.

The virtues of the complete edition make
posession obligatory. It has a natural, un-
hampered poetry in performance, permitted
by a conductor without slickness, who per-
mits himself scope according to the res-
traint or exuberance of the score. Instru-
ments and voices are excellent, and the
registration, except for the last few minutes
of the long second side, is outstanding, in
sweep, distinctness and timbre.

There' s nothing finer than a
VOX UHF* Recording

UHF

VOX

UHF

VOX

UHF

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Sensational Perlea Debut!

Tchaikovsky: ROMEO AND JULIET OVERTURE-FANTASY

1812 OVERTURE, OP. 49
CAPRICCIO ITALIEN, OP. 45 • MARCHE SLAVE, OP. 31

Vienna State Philharmonio * —Jonel Perleo, conductor PI 8700

World Premiere on Records!

Orff: CATULLI CARMINA

Elisabeth Roon, soprano— Hans LoefFler, tenor— Vienna Chamber Choir— Walter
Kamper, Edward Mrazek, Michael Gielen, Walter Klien, pianos— Heinrich Hollreiser,
conductor PL 8640

First Ultra High fidelity Recordings!

Stravinsky: LES NOCES

For 4 pianos— 15 Percussion Instruments and Chorus

MASS AND TWO MOTETS (PATER NOSTER, AVE MARIA)

The New York Concert Choir and the New York Concert Orchestra, Margaret
Hillis, conducting PL 8630

The ultimate in sound... performance... packaging
Vivaldi: LA STRAVAGANZA, OP. 4

(12 Concert! for Solo Violin, Strings & Continuo)

Reinhold Borchet, violin— Helma Eisner, harpsichord— Pro Musica String Orchestra,
Stuttgart- Rolf Reinhordt, conductor 3-12" DL 103

DELUXE EDITION: Illustrated Notes by Dr. Joseph Braunstein, Music Division,
N. Y. Public Library

* Ultra
High Fidelity

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□ Symphony No. 40 (Mozart), Unf infthed Sym-
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Yves Nat Haydn Society 97.

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Music-lovets will want a Rosamunde (Magic
Harp) Overture to supplement the complete
edition which does not contain that after-
thought. Both Mr. van Beinum and Sir
John Barbirolli have sturdy performances
not devoid of singing lyricism, but both are
hurt by violins not to be tolerated on sensi-
tive apparatus, a wisp of wire on the first
record a continuous buzz on the second.
That fault is not evident in the Braithwaire
disk, vivid but a little hard in sound; and
lacking any apparent participating by Mr.
B. himself. It is too bad that Dr. Stokow-
ski's record had not appeared at the time of
this writing: that heady conductor has
proved sometimes of discriminating worth
in Schubert.

For the second Ballet and the third
Entr'acte Mr. Dixon is very good although
perhaps Mr. van Beinum, without a buzz
here, surpasses in the Entr'acte. Mr. Braith-
waite and his sound are satisfactory. Prof.
Furtwangler, admirable mainly, fusses with
a few measures to show who's who. Prof.
Heger's charm is modified by the reproduc-
tion of it.

— (Complete.) National Opera Orchestta
and Akademie Choir, Vienna, with Hilde
Roessel-Majdan, contralto; Dean Dixon,
cond. Westminster wl 5182. 12-in. 56
min. S5.95.

— ("Atagic Harp" Overt/ire, Entr'acte 3 &
Ballet 2.) Concertgebouw Orchestra, Am-
sterdam, Eduard van Beinum, cond. LON-
DON ll 622. 12-in. {with Mendelssohn: 3
Excerpts from "A Midsummer Night's Dream").
22 min. S5.95.

— ("Magic Harp" Overture, Entr'acte 3, Bal-

lets 1 & 2.) Royal Opera Orchestta, Covent
Garden- Warwick Braithwaite, cond. MGM
E96. 10-in. 24 min. SJ.oo.
— ("Afagic Harp" Overture.) Halle Orches-
tra, Sir John Barbirolli, cond. RCA Victor
lbc 1047. 12-in. (with Sym. 8 Cr Bizet:
Arlisienne excerpts). 10 min. S2.98.

(Ballet 2 & Entr'acte 3.) Vienna Philhar-
monic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwangler,
cond. RCA Victor lumv 1020. 12-in.
(with Sym. 8 & Overtures by Weber and
Nicolai). 10 min. S5.95.
— ("Magic Harp" Overture, Entr'acte 3 &
Ballet 2). Bamberg Symphony Orchestra,
Robert Heger, cond. Mercury 10034.
12-in. (with Sym. 8). 26 min. S4.85.
— ("Alagic Harp" Overt/ire, Entr'acte 3,
Ballet 2). Symphony Orchestra, Leopold
Stokowski, cond. RCA Victor lm 1730.
12-in. (with Wagner: Parsifal excerpts). This
record was not heard. S5.72.

Snow White (Ballet arranged by Zoltan

Fekete) (1 Edition)
Schubert buried a fortune of charm in his
many works for the srage, works that can-
not be disinterred for integral modern per-
formance without the help of fortuitous and
unlikely circumstances. In rescuing some
airs from limbo and orchestrating them in
a manner not un-Schubertian, Mr. Fekete
has made a light, diverting Suite, in which a
bit from Rosamunde is the only part familiar.
Its congruity with the tale of Snow White
can hardly be estimated without seeing the
ballet. The dark coloration of the recorded
performance may be a product of acoustical
technique or environment, since the high

Om^rn^ LIVING PRESENCE

tfr NEW RELEASE

Another Mercury Olympian Series "FIRST" —
The FIRST COMPLETE Recording of a great ballet masterpiece

BALLET, Op. 71

by Peter inch Tchaikovsky
ANTAL DORATI conducting the
MINNEAPOLIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
2-12" LP records In deluxe album
OL-2-101

COMPLETE recording — no effort has been spared to make this recorded
performance as complete, definitive and authentic as possible, including the use
of TOY INSTRUMENTS, GUN SHOT and other "sound effects" and unusual devices
called for by Tchaikovsky in his original score-

IS* '

Other NEW LIVING PRESENCE HIGH FIDELITY releases:
Rimsky-Korsakov RUSSIAN Stravinsky LE SACRE 0U PRIN- MacDowell SECOND ("INDIAN")
EASTER OVERTURE; SYMPHONY TEMPS ("THE RITE OF SPRING"). SUITE. Howard Hanson conduct
NO. 2 "ANTAR". Paul Paray con- Antal Doratl conducting the Min- Ing the Eastman-Rochester Sym
ducting the Detroit Symphony neapolls Symphony Orchestra. phony Orchestra. MG40009
Orchestra. MG50028 MGS0030

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

RECORDS

woods do not crackle and brass timbre is
diffident in expression. However, the out-
line must be assumed to be authoritative.
Mildly entertaining, Schubertish if not
Schubert.

— Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Zoltan
Felcete, cond. Colosseum ion. 12 -in.
(with Fekett: Caucasus Suite), 21 min. $5.95.

" Music By Schubert"
Eight salon arrangements of popular things,
scored and played in the domineering
sweetness prevalent in the more expensive
restaurants for the first 20 years of this
century, an age no more refined, but more
genteel than the present era. Not recom-
mended for Schubertians, but smoothly
played, btightly sounded.
—Westminster Light Orchestra, Leslie
Bridgewater, cond. WESTMINSTER WL 4006.
12-in. 47 min. $4-95-

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

(Works for one or two instruments)

Allegretto in C Minor (i Withdrawn
Edition)

A short and uncomplicated piece inventive
nevertheless, alternating shadows and sun-
beams, competently played and neatly re-
corded, but unfortunately tied to a sonata
in a disappointing edition.
— (*) Ray Lev, piano. Concert Hall chs
1072. 12-in. (with Unfinished Sonata in C).
4 min. Was $5.95.

Divertissement a La Hongroise, Op. 54

(1 Edition)
There is a deceptive gay semblance of holi-
day in this terribly Schubertian piece which
the composer did write on holiday in 1824.
But in these late years of his short life,
melancholy and despair wound wraithlike
through the simplest melodies of the
breeziest forms he chose to convey his
sickness. It is not hard to accept the Di-
vertissement as a memento of an excursion,
sprightly and then prim, into romantic
Hungary; but one of the first virtues of the
only recording (by an expert team) is the
stipulation that the illness forcing the ex-
cursion had not been abated. An old LP of
enduring merit: great Schubert, rare in-
terpretation, seemly reproduction.
— Vitya Vronsky, Victor Babin (piano four-
hands). Columbia ml 212;. io-in. 27
min. $4.00.

Duo For Piano and Violin, in A, Op. 162

(4 Editions)
From time to time one finds a disk by
Mr. Szigeti shockingly ahead of the field,
and this is one. This is not to slight Dame
Myra Hess, his partner in a most eloquent
record, but the fruitful phrasing and sig-
nificant stresses which make this perform-
ance superb are familiar attributes of the
Szigeti method, based on minute, penetrating
study; and it would not be easy for a pianist,
Dame Myra or another, ro be reluctant in
cooperation. Very good registration of
both instruments, the best of Mr. Szigeti's
that this writer has heard.

The others, good as two of them are,
are not in the Hess-Szigeti class, although
Messrs. Oborin and Oistrakh transmit a
similar emotion in a good reproduction,
and the Kreisler tone in the remarkably

June, 1954

vital old Rachmaninoff-Kreisler interpreta- |
tion is ingratiating and dulcet. In contrast
with these, the vigor of the Baller-Menuhin
version seems frivolous.

The music, wonderful in the odd-num-
bered movements, is a sonata, but is best
known as a Duo, and is so placed alphabeti-
cally here, away from the Sonat(in)as, to
give it the isolation its superiority deserves.
—Dame Myra Hess, piano; Joseph Szigeti,
violin. Columbia ml 4717. 12-in. (with
Variations on "Trock'ne Blumen"). 23 min.
$5.93. Also available in Album sl 184.
—Lev Oborin, David Oistrakh. PERIOD SPL
573. 12-in. (with Beethoven: P-V Sonata 5;
and Tartini: "Devil's Trilf' Sonata). 23
min. $5 95-

— Sergei Rachmaninoff, Fritz Kreisler. RCA
Victor lct 1 128. 12-in. (with Grieg. P-V
Sonata }). 20 min. $5.72.
— Adolph Bailer, Yehudi Menuhin. RCA
VICTOR lm 140. 10-in. 19 min. $4.67.

Fantasy For Piano, in C, "Wanderer",

Op. 15 (1 Edition)
"1 Edition" means just one available of the
music as Schubert wrote it. But the Liszt
version with an orchestra added has been
noticed under Orchestral Music. Vox has
withdrawn an edition, and WCFM has one
in preparation. We have thus only the
version of Mr. ClifiFord Curzon to recon-
sider, and the reconsideration in this place
is drastic. Three years ago, in the harass-
ment of a noisy, eccentric copy, the Lon-
don disk of that pianist was cavalierly and
impatiently dismissed. A truer copy com-
pels the assertion that the performance is
one of continuously mutable poetry, its
string of moods, contrived by Schubert for
once from an economy of material, under-
taken without reticence or fear, and its
gross difficulties conquered in a heady dis-
play of resourceful pianism. Furthermore,
the piano resounds with a sonorous bass
and an easy treble, as a whole imposing in
spite of occasional hardness.
— Clifford Curzon. London ls 83. 10-in.
21 min. S4.95.

Fantasy For Piano Four-Hands, in F

Minor, Op. io3 (i Edition)
A late work whose contradictory senti-
ments complicate the duty of assessing the
value of a performance. That here is
polished and unified, and if interest wanes
and grows in little spurts, such may be an
immanent quality of the music, since inter-
pretive faults are not apparent. Agreeable
reproduction.

— Paul Badura-Skoda, Joerg Demus. West-
minster wl 5047. 12-in. (with 2 Rondos
and a Marche). 18 min. $5.95.

Fantasy For Piano and Violin, in C,

Op. 159 (i Edition)
Since it is impossible not to admit that Mr.
Szigeti, in the usual profundity of his under-
standing, is the one consummate musician ,
among the celebrated violinists, his work is
entitled always to a hearing. After hearing
this Fantasy one may conclude that too
much of the phrasing is ungainly, and too
often the violin is scratchy, ro offer pleasure
in hearing again. There is nothing Mr.
Levine can do to alter this.
— Joseph Levine, Joseph Szigeti. Colum-
bia ml 4338. 12-in. (with a miscellany in-
cluding Corelli's "La Folia"). 25 min.
$5.95 1

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Grand Duo, For Piano Four-Hands,

Op. 140 (1 Edition)
This rattling entertainment has been in-
flated in commentary, and shrewd but un-
proved conjectures that it is a reduction of
the score of a symphony written at Gastein
have conduced to its appraisal with awe
rather than cheerful affection. Unusual in
a long work of so lace a year as 1824, the
Sonata — for the Duo is a four-movement
sonata — is barely dappled with melan-
choly, ephemeral and episodic. The per-
formance on rhe only record is one of frank,
thumping athleticism, purposively bereft
of recondite pretensions and emphatically
recalling that four-handed piano playing is
a branch of sport. Impressive sonic registra-
tion.

— Paul Badura-Skoda, Joerg Demus. West-
minster wl 5093. 12-in. 33 min. $5.95.

Impromptus (4), Op. 90 (4 Editions)
No. 1, in C Minor; No. 2, in E Flat;

No. 3, in G; No. 4, in A Flat
Nothing quite like these beauriful reflec-
tions of flitting sentiments had been heard
until the publication of the first two in
1827. Then the romantics born in roman-
ticism, not in classicism as Schubert was,
advened to appropriate the little confes-
sional form as their own. Op. 90 is a stur-
dier, proleptic Chopin.

Any of the four recorded performances
is good enough for anyone willing to admit
how closely all cling to a similar honest
conception. True, Mr. Firkusny is crisper
and brighter than the others, not excessively,
not flashily; and Artur Schnabel introduced
a greater subtlety of variation, while Mr.
B.-S. is preeminently mellow and Mr. G.
solid. The preference here is for Schnabel,
fairly confidently, and then for Mr. Badura-
Skoda, with less confidence; and for repro-
duction first honors are for Westminster
with Concert Hall close behind and then
Columbia, all these being above average.
But the HMV sound given to Schnabel is
not at all bad, although it is less decisive
and resonant than the others. — The second
Impromptu is perhaps too brilliant as Miss
Kraus plays it.

— Artur Schnabel. RCA Victor lhmv 1027.
12-in. (with Impromptus, Op. 142). 9, 4, 5,
6 min. $5 95.

— Paul Badura-Skoda. Westminster wal
205. Two 12-in. (with Impromptus, Op. 142
& Sonata, Op. 120). 10, 4, 6, 8, min. $12.50,
including pocket scores.
— Robert Goldsand. Concert Hall chs
1 146. 12-in. (with Impromptus, Op. 142).
8, 4, 7, 5 min. $5.95.

— Rudolf Firkusny. Columbia ml 4527.
12-in. (with Impromptus, Op. 142). 8, 4,
6, 7 min. $5.95.

— (No. 2 only) Lili Kraus. Decca dl 8506.
12-in. (with Sonata, Op. 14} & Impromptu,
Op. 142, No. 3). 4 min. $4.8).

Impromptus (4), Op. 142 (7 Editions)
No. 1, in F Minor; No. 2, in A Flat;

No. 3, in B Flat; No. 4, in F Minor
It has been conjectured — and the internal
evidence is not contemptible although not
conclusive — that the four irresistible Im-
promptus of Op. 142 form in reality a
sonata, and most of the pianists in these re-
cordings have submitted to that hypothesis

in adjusting the four to a more or less
balanced whole. Considered as a sonata,
the work of Mr. Badura-Skoda, of heated
lyrical intensity in a subdued voice, de-
precatory of pianism as such, and as if
compelled by an inner dictation, prevails in
this opinion over all the others. This opin-
ion is fortified by the glowing realism of the
piano, in acoustical Surroundings that make
its mere sonance a conscious pleasure.

Individual Impromptus may be preferred
in other playing: the winging exhilaration
of the Firkusny No. 4, the simple candor of
the Schnabel No. 3, the brilliance of Mr.
Curzon in 1 and 4. There are too many
complications to permit the imperious pres-
cription of one inevitable recording. Ex-
cellent sound has been accorded to Messrs.
Badura-Skoda, Curzon, Goldsand and Fir-
kusny, with the first two quite outstanding,
and in no Case is the piano badly faulted.
The performances are all satisfactory when
not heard competitively, although several
are less than compelling, and two at least
sound drab after the best have been heard.

Couplings and the quality of the coup-
lings, and duration, musr influence choice.
The economics of selection leers with par-
ticular absurdity here, with double asked
for the Curzon and Pattison versions, nearly
double for the Schwalb, and the Badura-
Skoda impossible to compute since it is
entangled with a sonata. Assessing inter-
pretive and recording values in terms of
economic allure, the order is first Firkusny,
then Schnabel or Goldsand.

Miss Kraus's performance of No. 3 —
the variations on the theme of the third
entr'acte from RosamunJt — is nicely sing-
ing, a little flashy, and the old recording,
without much crispness, sounds agreeably
mellow.

— Paul Badura-Skoda. Westminster wal
205. Two 12-in. (with Impromptus, Op. 90

6 Sonata, Op. 126). 12, 6, 9, 6 min. $12.50.
Pocket scores furnished.

—Clifford Curzon. London ll 120. 12- in.
9, 6, 11,7 min. $5.95.
— Rudolf Firkusny. Columbia ml 4527.
12-in. (with Impromptus, Op. 90). 9, 5, 10,
5 min. $5.95.

— Robert Goldsand. Concert Hall chs
1 146. 12-in. (with Impromptus, Op. 90).

9, 5. 8, 6 min. $5.95-

— Artur Schnabel. RCA VICTOR LHMV 1027.
:2-in. (with Impromptus, Op. 90). 9, 7, 10,

7 min. $5 95.

— Miklos Schwalb. Academy 3o6. 10-in.

10, 5, 8, 6 min. $4.75.

— Lee Pattison. Claremont 1201. 12-in.
8, 6, 10, 6 min. $5.95.
— (No. 3 only) Lili Kraus. Decca dl 8506.
12-in. (with Sonata, Op. 14} & Impromptu,
Op. 90, No. 2). 11 min. $4.85.

(3) Klavierstuecke (i Edition)
Although scarcely known, the three late
Piano Pieces, especially the third, are part of
the greater Schubert. They are imaginative
little poems without much resemblance to
any other music except in their possession of
the composer's characteristic traits of melody
and rhythm. Mr. Jolles is not a pianist of
the first celebrity: he is plainly one of the
best Schubert pianists, which means that
pianism is secondary to musical thought,
here emerging transparent. Reproduction
of the piano through a good apparatus is

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of a class equalled only by about a score of
records. Unheralded, but it ought not to
be unsung.

— Henry Jolles. Haydn Society 8i . 12-in.
(with Sonata, Op. 78). 6, 8, 5 min. $5.95.

Laendler

Out of the hundreds of little dance pieces
composed by Schubert, the recording com-
panies have ignored nearly everything. A
few German Dances are noted under Or-
chestral Music. The piano records are
limited to the excerpts below, wherein Miss
Kraus plays one beauty from Op. 18 with
the special rhythmic style requisite, and
Mr. Johannesen, a good pianist, plays the
eight of Op. 171 without that sense of style.
Good sound for the latter, but Miss Kraus's
is an atrocious old recording.
— (Op. lji) Grant Johannesen. Concert
Hall chs i 176. 12-in. (with Fantasy, Op. 15,
in Liszt's arrangement, and Rondo for Violin &
Orch.). 9 min. $5.95.

— (Excerpt from Op. 18) Lili Kraus. Decca
dl 8505. 12-in. (with Mozart: Cone. 18, &
Unfinished Sonata, kv 404). 4 min, $4.85.

Lebenstuerme, Piano Four-Hands, Op.

144 (1 Edition)
Schubert's own title for this tempestuous
music from the last year of his life was
"Characteristic Allegro," pointing its ad-
herence to sonata form. Divorced from a
context, its storm is less affecting than we
expect from late Schubert, a defect not to be
blamed on the resolution of the expert team
responsible for the record. Virile and un-
troublesome registration.
— Paul Badura-Skoda, Joerg Demus, West-
minster WL 5147. 12-in. (with Variations,
Opp. 35 & 82, No. 2). 12 min. $5.95.

Marche Caracteristique, Op. 121, No. 1
(1 Edition)

The very essence of Schubert is at the heart
of the preposterous simplicity of this drum-
ming jubilation. Never was jubilation so
meretricious as here where it thunders to
exorcise or cover terror. The performance
by a superb four-handed team is magnificent,
and assisted by the richness of the piano
as recorded creates a place for itself as a
leading "sleeper" in the Schubert repertory.
(The March is intelligently played as part
of the Bridgewater miscellany on West-
minster 4006, unfortunately in a salon or-
chestration.)

—Paul Badura-Skoda, Joerg Demus. West-
minster wl 5047, 12-in. (with Fantasy,
Op. 103, & 2 Rondos), 7 min. $5.95.

Momens Musicals, Op. 94 (3 Editions)
Such was the published title, Schubert's
own, of the six idling, miniature delectations
of his Op. 94, so easy for the fingers and so
challenging to the heart. Everyone knows
No. 3 and everyone ought to know the
others, — These are not great records. Mr.
Demus has the natural poetry here, in this
opinion beyond cavil, and although there is
felicity in the sound of his piano at low
voice, the clatter when the voice is lifted
won't do. Mr. Goldsand's lyricism can im-
press hearers as being a little contrived, but
Concert Hall has permitted him the most
impressive piano. Mr. Fischer will forgive
this magazine for allowing one of its crea-
tures to demur at a beadle-like rectitude in
much of his playing. The piano as such is

June, 1954

agreeable here, perhaps not inferior to Mr.
Goldsand's but less decisive in impact.
— Robert Goldsand. Concert Hall chs
1 148. 12-in. (with Sonata, Op. 120). 4, 6, 2,
5, 2, 7 min. $5.95.

— Edwin Fischer. RCA Victor lhmv 1055.
12-in. (with Beethoven: Sonata 23). 4,6,2,
4, 1, 7 min. $5.95.

- -Joerg Demus. Remington 149-21. 10-
in. 6, 5, 2, 5, 2, 7 min. $1.99.

Rondo in D, Op. i 38; Rondo in A, Op.

107, For Piano Four-Hands (i Edition)
The higher number is earlier by ten years
than the lower. Both are masterly for their
respective periods, the first affectionate in a
puppyish happiness, the second decorated
with regrets and darkened with omens.
Favorable references to the players must by
now fatigue, but the limpid rippling of their
work in Op. 138 should not be missed: it is
exceptional. The greater work needs less
help in making its points, which are here
gravely made. Solid reproduction, easy to
adjust.

— Paul Badura-Skoda, Joerg Demus. West-
minster wl 5047, 12-in. (with Fantasy,
Op. 10}, & Marche, Op. 121, No. 1). 7, 11
min. $5.95.

Rondo Brilliant For Piano and Violin,

in B Minor, Op. 70 (1 Edition)
Rhapsodic music of remarkable harmonic
boldness, in a display of musicianship en-
tirely revelatory of its values apparent and
implied. It is obligatory to admire this,
and impossible not to be repelled by
the querulous scratch with which the
Szigeti bow challenges the Szigeti brain.
The engineers may be exculpated except
perhaps for making the discomfiting tone
too clear, and the piano has been very com-
petently served. There is no one like Mr.
Szigeti: at his best and worst he is equally
unrivalled.

— Carlo Bussotti, Joseph Szigeti. Colum-
bia ML 4642. 12-in. (with Beethoven: P-V
Sonata 10). 15 min. $5.95.

Sonatas For Piano

(At least three systems of numeration have
been used for the Schubert Sonatas, with
the result that none has had wide acceptance.
They are known not by individual number
but by opus-number, and in Schubert the
opus-numbers are chronologically deceptive.
The Sonatas and parts of Sonatas ought to
be numbered in the order of their creation,
after examination regarding admissibility,
and that would be done here if space sufficed
to validate the system and the reasoning be-
hind it. In this discography, which contains
only one of the very early works, the Sona-
tas are presented as they were written, and
without individual numbers for the form.)

In B, Op. 147 (1 Edition)
The dogged formalism is that of a man for
whom formalism was not right. On the
keyboard in 1817 Schubert imitated a Bee-
thoven without much confidence, and sub-
dued a Schubert whose great works did not
yet include any for the piano. Episodically
interesting, and progressively, the value of
the movements being ordered 4, 3, 2, 1.
Mr. Wiihrer is a pianist of no mean parts,
particularly expressive in Schubert, even this
early Schubert; and Vox has reproduced
his instrument with exemplary force and

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clarity. Discophiles are invited to listen to
the disciplined thunder of the bass of this
piano, and then declare where else we find
it better.

— Friedrich Wiihrer. Vox PL 8420. 12-in.
(with Sonata in C Minor, Op. Posth.). 21
min. $5.95.

In A, Op. i 20 (2 Editions)
Readers who may buy records on the basis
of observations like these in this discography
have a right to know that the discographer
has always thought this Sonata trivial stuff,
showing promise, no more; and that one
reasonably competent performance equivales
another. Mr. Badura-Skoda is freer in rubato
than Mr. Goldsand who wastes no time,
but the Sonata remains unimportant either
way. Borh pianos have acceptable sound,
both clattering at the top a little, but the
Concert Hall bass is cleaner than the West-
minster, here cushioned too softly.
— Robert Goldsand. Concert Hall chs
1 1 48. 12-in. (with Momtns Musicals). 20
min. $5.95

—Paul Badura-Skoda. Westminster wal
205. Two 12-in. (with Impromptus, Opp. go
& 142). 23 min. $12.30. Miniature scores
furnished.

In A Minor, Op. 143 (2 Editions)
This transitional Sonata of 1823 is more
thoroughly realized by the Vox version
than by the Decca, although this must be
attributed to sonics rather than to an in-
herent superiority of Mr. Wiihrer' s forceful
attack compared to the distinctive finesse
of Miss Kraus. The Wiihrer piano, bold,
resonant and retentive in reproduction,
conveys in its wide dynamic expanse an im-
pression of the uncertainties and frustrations
of the music that the more docile instru-
ment of Miss Kraus, as recorded, cannot
emulate. The Vox sound, in its richness,
may be thought inflated, but it does not
suffer when its volume is reduced.
— Friedrich Wiihrer. Vox PL 8210. 12-in.
(with Sonata in B Flat, Op. Posth.). 21 min.
*5-95

— Lili Kraus. Decca DL 8506. 12-in. (with
2 Impromptus). 18 min. $4.8;.

In C, (Unfinished) (i Withdrawn Edition)
Ernst Krenek rilled out the concluding two
movements of a unique and startling Sonata
with a knowing and conscientious adherence
to Schubert's style, but the withdrawn re-
corded performance has little grace and im-
parts less significance. The old registration
had many felicities, particularly in its clean-
cut bass and over the entite keyboard at

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RECOkDS

WANTED

More and more people want more
and more Berlioz, that we know.
Every time a recording company or
a concert management presents a
performance of the Sympbonie
Fantastique or Harold in Italy, it is
accompanied by the healthy, steady
rustle of currency changing hands.
Still, fond as we are of Harold and
the Fantastique, they are not Hec-
tor Berlioz's only works. Would
you not like to hear The Taking of
Troy or Benvenuto Cellini given at
the Metropolitan, and recorded?
And, bearing in mind the Great
Romantic's penchant for wonder-
ful clangor, what about his choral-
orchestral Song of the Railroads?
And the Hamlet music? Next
question: how do we get these
works played and recorded? This
problem presented itself last year
to our Mr. W. Ernest Gillespie,
now secretary-treasurer of the So-
ciety, who had traveled down east
from Exeter to Boston for a rare
performance of Romeo et Juliette.
It occurred to him while be was
taking the air at intermission on
the steps of Symphony Hall, and at
that epic instant, in the chill wind
whipping down Huntington Aven-
ue, the idea of a Berlioz Society
was conceived. Now the Society
has incorporated, publishes a
monthly Newsletter and has a large
and growing membership, includ-
ing numerous recording execu-
tives, musical notables and writers
in the field. Its president is Charles
Munch; its honorary president is
Sir Thomas Beecham. Any Ber-
lioz-enthusiast who wants to join
is welcome. The membership fee
is $2 (Si for students), but larger
contributions — which have been
gratifyingly numerous — will not
be refused. This would have been
Berlioz's i 5 1 st year, had be lived,
and it seems likely to be the year
of his greatest popularity. You
do want a chance to hear Beatrice
et Benedict, don't you?

the BERLIOZ SOCIETY, inc.

10 Wh**lwriflhl Av«.,
Exeter, N. H.

June, 1954

low voice, with metal in the treble when
loud. The disk is mentioned here for those
who must have the music, but no doubt
a better version will soon appear.
— (*) Ray Lev. Concert Hall chs 1072.
12-in. (with Allegretto in C Minor). 24 min.
Was $5.95.

In A Minor, Op. 42 (2 Editions)
The opus-numbers of the three sonatas
composed by Schubert in A Minor are in
reverse order of their creation. The great
one under consideration now — the first of
the great Schubert piano sonatas — re-
ceived its low number because it was the
only one in A Minor to be published in
the composer's lifetime. The two recorded
performances are salient with musicianly
virtues, and it is a little shame that Miss
Kraus, in this sensitively successful inter-
pretation, one of her best LP's, cannot win
the competition. But Prof. Kempff is in
his best form too, and this leading player
of the romantic classicists combines deli-
cacy and strength wirh digital dexterity in a
remarkable record wherein his piano has a
tingling insistent life considerably more
imperious than the agreeable registration
accorded to Miss Kraus. The one bites
where the other cozens.
— Wilhelm Kempff. LONDON LL 792. 12-in.
35 min. $5.95.

— Lili Kraus. DeCCA DL 8518. 12-in. (with
Voltes Nobles). 3o min. $4.85.

In G, Op. 78 (2 Editions)
Greater pianists than Mr. Jolles have
played Schubert, but no pianist, however
great, has achieved on records so heartfelt a
Schubertian song as Mr. Jolles here, in the
most Schubertian of sonatas. We cannot
know whether calculation, instinct or repe-
tition had most influence in the always
mobile and pliant playing of this music
compounded of grandeur and simplicity.
The pianist makes both indelible, and by a
stress and tempo in continual small muta-
tions maintains suspense in the creation of
a worried uncertainty. This is unlabored
romantic pianism of the most informative
kind. Sustaining the player's laurels, the
engineers have incorporated the sound of
his piano in a disk of outstanding clarity
and realism, especially notable for the rare
naturalness of its treble.

The other record, much older, has its
points of virtue, but hardly belongs in the
same world as the new one.
— Henry Jolles. Haydn Society 81. r2-in.
(with 3 Klavierstucke). 33 min. $5.95.
— Erno Balogh. Lyrichord 5. 12-in.
33 min. $5.95-

In C Minor, Op. Posth. (2 Editions)
The last but two of Schubert's piano sonatas
is the first in which he seems to reach out
consciously for vastness. Composed in his
last year, it is a preparation for the last
sonata, in B Flat, to which it should be com-
pared as an example without precedent of
the progress through practice of a great
composer from greatness into the empyrean.
— The two pianists who have recorded the
C Minor Sonata are Schubert specialists,
which means that they call attention to the
unusual amount of Schubert listed on their
programs. Mr. Aitken's record impressed,
nearly four years ago, as a realistic projec-
tion of a piano's sonority, but rhat is not
true now: it seems shallow and hard. Mr.

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Wuhrer has the advantage of good average
contemporary registration, and a pianistic
advanrage, in this Sonata, more obvious.
— Friedrich Wuhrer. Vox PL 8420. 12-in.
(with Sonata in B, Op. 147). 28 min. $5.95.
— Webster Aitken. EMS 110. 12-in. 3o
min. $5.95.

In A, Op. Posth. (1 Edition)
Freighted with beautiful ideas, the next-to-
last Sonata distributes its temperament in
curious fashion: two movements of bitter
distress, then two affirming joy in life. Mr.
Aitken makes the emotional points of the
first two movements with an intensity of
pains not advantageous to niceties of
pianism. This is of course better than the
opposite, when pianism submerges meaning,
but it is good to have both. Good registra-
tion of the bass, fair of the treble, with some
obscurity in mid-range.
— Webster Aitken. EMS in. 12-in. 37
min. $5-95-

In B Flat, Op. Posth. (5 Editions)
There have been more tears for Schubert
than for any other artist who died young,
and the great last Sonata by itself would
justify an extremity of lament. For this
culmination was a commencement: not
before in his piano works had the com-
poser disposed such a mellowness of in-
vention in so seizing a way within the classic
form; and quite aside from its emotional
and morphic accomplishment, it is as im-
mediately listenable as any of the lesser
sonatas, with exception made perhaps for
Op. 78-

The opinion here strongly favors the per-
fectly proportioned phrasing and huge but
symmetrical dynamic sweep of Prof. Kempff.
This musician is without peer in providing
the romantic music of the early Nineteenth
Century with the logical contours of the
ordained classical form, this without dilut-
ing the significance of the musical narrative,
A number of the Beethoven sonatas re-
corded by Prof. Kempff (for Decca) display
this ability equally eminent in the Schubert
Sonata. — The registration, of generally high
order, has to cope with the continuous dis-
turbance of low-frequency background
noise. This is severe enough to frustrate a
great performance heard through a sensitive
instrument not equipped with a rumble-
suppressor.

Both the Wuhrer and Aitken perform-
ances are excellent, the latter particularly in
the matter of its shading. The former has a
heroic aspect, and a great advantage over all
the others, in the strong resonance of its
clearly-chiseled sound, outstanding here;
while the second suffers from some inade-
quacy of reproduction at the center of the
keyboard. Mr. Demus's introspective, sub-
dued interpretation is unusual and attrac-
tive, although his fingering in the last two
movements will arouse less acclaim than
that of the best of his rivals. Here the first
movement, on the first side, reproduces
sonorously, but the rest reveals a slowly
increasing clang in the treble. The deft
restlessness of Mme. Haskil may be mis-
placed, and her left hand, as the recording
sounds it, is soft. The reproduction of this
disk is generally less substantial than that of
the others.

— Wilhelm Kempff. LONDON ll 307. 12-
in. 35 min. $5.95.

— Friedrich Wuhrer. Vox PL 8210. 12-in.
(with Sonata in A Minor, Op. 14}). 32 min.
J5-95

— Websrer Aitken. EMS 112. 12-in. 42
min. $5 95-

— Joerg Demus. Remington 199-39. 12-
in. 36 min. $5.95.

— Clara Haskil. EpiCLC3o3i. 12-in. (with
Schumann: Bunte Blatter). 32 min. $5.95.

Sonata For Piano and Cello (Arpeggi-

one), In A Minor (4 Editions)
The arpeggione, a hybrid from guitar and
cello, an ephemeral invenrion from an age
when such contraptions flourished, has left
its little imprint on history from the Sonata
that Schubert composed for it. It is heard
now usually played by cello and piano,
although it has been arranged for other
instruments, and Gaspar Cassado made it
into a cello concerto. Light and songlike,
it is a pleasant and unmemorable diversion.
Three of the recorded editions are of ap-
proximately equal value, for the only way to
make an interpretive mark with it is in
spoiling it. This is the way chosen by Mr.
Mainardi, something of a specialist at
painting lilies. Here his lugubrious de-
liberation is simply a bore, and the denatura-
tion of his cello's tone into a violin's is a
feat rather of thaumaturgy than of music.
— The others are affable, the most varied
tone and Sweetest phrasing being Feuer-
mann's, with Francaix-Gendron the most
direct and Mittman-Ricci gracious and
fluent. Sonic values do not impel decision
in this kind of music unless discrepancy is
large: still, London and Stradivari have
more penetrating reality than the Columbia
reincarnation.

— Leopold Mittman, George Ricci. Stradi-
vari 612. 12-in. (with Schumann: Cello
Concerto). 20 min. $5.95.
— Jean Franccaix,. Maurice Gendron. LON-
DON l 654. 12-in. (with Schumann: Fan-
tasiestuche. Op. 73, & 3 Remances, Op. 94).
21 min. $5.95.

— Gerald Moore, Emanuel Feuermann.
Columbia ml 4677. 12-in. (with Haydn:
Cello Concerto). 18 min. $5.95.
— Guido Borciani, Enrico Mainardi. DeCCa
DL 7539. 10-in. 27 min. $3.85.

Sonatinas (3) For Piano and Violin,
Op. 137

Messrs. Balogh and Mischakoff give us all
three of these refreshing spring breezes
wirhout affectation, but with an edge to the
violin probably sharpened by the engineers,
and complicated by a recurrent low-fre-
quency pulsation. The Foldes-Szigeti ver-
sion is lovely in the andante, curt in the
first movement; and in any event the Sona-
tina they play — the most popular of the
three' — is frail stuff for this violinist's
talents. Kraus-Rampal — the only recent
edition — is a revelation of flute tone and
technique in music not written for the flute.
The cantilena in the slow movement must
be noted. A tour dt force, but also the most
desirable of the disks, and the one with the
clearest reproduction.

— (No. 3 only) Lili Kraus, Jean-Pierre Rampal
(flute). Educo 4001. 12-in. (with Mozart:
P-V Sonata, KV 454, & Debussy: Syrinx). 17
min. $5-95-

— (Nos. 1, 2 & }) Erno Balogh, Mischa
Mischakoff. Lyrichord 7. 12-in. it, 15,
i3 min. $5.95.

— (No. 1 only) Andor Foldes, Joseph
Szigeri. COLUMBIA ML 4133. 12-in. ^ (with
Beethoven: P-V Sonata 1). 13 min.^ $5.95.

Valses Nobles, Op. 77 (1 Edition)
A publisher gave the deceptive title to these
heatty and in general rather rustic bonbons
confected from landler. Delectable, like
most of Schubert's work in the genre, but
played on the record with exaggerated
contrasts almost too roguish to stomach.
— Lili Kraus. Decca dl 8518. 12-in.
(with Sonata in A Minor, Op. 42). 9 min,
$4.85.

Variations For Piano Four-Hands, in

A Flat, Op. 35 (1 Edition)
Exceptionally resourceful writing for this
intimate field where little of lasting value is
anticipated, in a record with a soft glow of
inclusive expertise, from the nimble assur-
ance of the players to the compelling repro-
duction of the instrument at which they are
crowded.

— Paul Badura-Skoda, Joerg Demus. West-
minster wl 5147. 12-in. (with Variations,
Op. 82. No. 2, & Ltbensturme, Op. 144),
20 min. $5.95.

Variations For Piano Four-Hands, in

B Flat, Op. 82, No. 2 (1 Edition)
Earlier, simpler and gayer than the Varia-
tions, Op. 35, more quickly assimilable and
probably less resistant to wear. It is hard to
find fault with the beguiling performance of
the only team to have given us much of this
four-hand music, and the sound of the
piano is excellent although unsensational.
— Paul Badura-Skoda, Joerg Demus. West-
minister wl 5147. 12-in. (with Variations,
Op. 35, & Ltbensturme, Op. 144). 11 min.
*5-95-

Variations For Piano and Flute on
"Trock'ne Blumen," Op. 160 (1 Edition)
The eighteenth song of Die Schone Mullerin
provided the theme without hope for these
impassioned Vatiations, and the fact pro-
vides a complication not easy for the hearer
to resolve, since the flabby hero of the song-
cycle persistently intrudes on consciousness
weeping copiously over his justified jilt.
This is hard to reconcile with the bold as-
sertions of some of the Variations, which are
rewarding if one can forget the song that
inspired them. Mr. Wummer meets the
heavy demands made upon his breath with
the skill expected of him, and Mr. Mannes
plays ably, but the Iatter's piano is not well
on this record which nevertheless carries
the flute in full clarity.
— Leopold Mannes, John Wummer. Col-
umbia ml 4717. 12-in. (with Duo, Op. 162).
20 min. $5.95. (May also be had in Casals
Festival at Prades, Vol. 11.)

The Schubert discography will continue
— and probably end — in the July issue.
In the second installment, Mr. Burke will
cover Schubert's chamber music and
vocal music. In addition, he will pick a
limited list of Schubert records, repre-
senting all kinds of his music, denotable
as the best of Schubert on microgroove.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

■m TESTO INI THt HOME

T4e«v reports may not be quoted or reproduced, in part or in whole, in any form whatsoever, without written permission from the publisher.
Because of space limitations we normally attempt to report only on products of wide general interest. Thus, omission does not, per se, sig-
nify condemnation, although reports are seldom made on equipment that is obviously not reasonably high infidelity. — Each report is sent
to the manufacturer before publication; he is free to correct the specifications paragraph, to add a comment at the end, or to request that
the report be deferred {pending changes in his product) or not published at all. He is not permitted, however, to amend or alter the report.

Fold-a-Flex Speaker Enclosure

SPECIFICATIONS (furnished by manufacturer): An enclosure for
IS or 12-in. loudspeakers which is easily converted to operate as
a folded horn, infinite baffle, or bass reflex type of cabinet.
Provision for mounting 2-way and 3-way system components.
Overall dimensions: 42j-£ in. high and 40' 2 in. wide across front;
if used in corner, cabinet stands approximately 32 in. from
corner; used across a wall, cabinet stands 19 in. from wall.
Finishes: standard are contemporary blonde oak and traditional
mahogany; others available at slight additional cost. Price:
$225.00. Address: Angle-Genesee Corp., 108 Norris Drive, Ro-
chester 10, N. Y.

Some months ago, Oliver Read, editor of Radio and Tele-
vision News, designed what might be called a "convertible"
speaker cabinet: by closing doors and sliding panels, the
enclosure becomes a bass reflex with adjustable port, a
totally-enclosed cabinet of infinite baffle type, or a rear-
loaded horn enclosure. The two sketches hereabouts
show how these changes are accomplished. Mr. Read
has licensed Angle-Genesee, well known for nice styling
and sound construction, to make "Fold-a-Flex" enclo-
sures.*

The various possibilities work out this way: if the two
doors, at either side of the front of the cabinet, are closed
and the port (center of front, near bottom) is open, you
have a bass reflex. If the port is closed and the two doors
are open, you have a rear-loaded horn. If everything —
doors and port — is closed, you have a totally enclosed
infinite baffle. Port size is approximately 14 by 6 in.;
a sliding panel inside the cabinet can be raised or lowered
(and then clamped) by the two knobs which can be seen
at the bottom of the grille cloth area, to provide "tuning."

The question can rightly be raised: why so much flexi-
bility? The obvious answer is: for optimum results re-
gardless of speaker characteristics and, to a certain extent,
room acoustics. It is, of course, well known that speakers
vary considerably in their frequency response characteris-
tics. Some function best in an infinite baffle; some in
rear-loaded horns; others in a bass reflex type of cabinet.
This one cabinet enables the user to try out various en-
closure designs and wind up with the one best suited to
his speaker. For example, if a given unit has a pronounced
boom down in the low frequency region, a properly balanced

•Stephens Manufacturing Corp, is licensed to make the enclosures with speak-
ers installed.

June, 1954

bass reflex is likely to kill most of the "boom." And
those words "properly balanced" are of the utmost im-
portance; we'd almost go out on a limb and say that a
bass reflex must have some provision for tuning the port,
unless it is specifically designed for one speaker and is
used with that speaker and the smaller the cabinet, the
more important it becomes to balance speaker and port
opening. (Port size is not so critical in a big bass reflex.)

A certain amount of compensation for room acoustics
can be achieved by changing cabinet design. If, for in-
stance, the sum total of speaker characteristics and room
acoustics imparts a heaviness to low frequency reproduc-
tion, changing from rear horn loading to infinite baffle
will probably make things better.

There is certainly no question but that this cabinet
design provides a flexibility not found elsewhere. The
whole unit is well thought out, carefully and strongly built.
We detected no cabinet resonances, in spite of a rather
large number of wood panels. Incidentally, the panels
directly behind the loudspeaker are padded with acoustic
material to deaden mid-frequency "bounce." The front
panel is cut for 15-in. speakers; an adapter is provided for
12-in. units. A thoughtful gesture was provision of two
sizes of bolts, to match small and large speaker-frame
holes. Another bit of thoughtfulness: at the back of the

Here the Fold-a-Flex is operating as a bass-reflex enclosure.

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Lower section of the
Fold-a-Flex has movable
port and side doors. The
upper part (not shown)
holds high-range units.

cabinet, on the outside, is a screw-terminal strip for the
wires from the amplifier. Wires were attached, inside
the cabinet, to this terminal strip for connection to the
speaker.

The top 9 in. of the cabinet are separately boxed in,
with a panel about 14 in. wide screwed across the front.
This space is provided so a tweeter can be enclosed sepa-
rate from the woofer section. Good idea!

Two words of caution: the space between the front
panel and the two padded back panels is adequate for nearly
all 1 5-in. speakers, but if you happen to have a real mon-
ster, better check first to be sure it will fit. A Tannoy
just made it, but Electro- Voice's new 15TRX was much
too big.

The second caution: don't throw the Angle-Genesee
"Fold-a-Flex" down the cellar stairs just because you can't
figure out how to remove the front frame (which holds
the grille cloth). We almost gave up, then found that
there are four screw holes along each edge — hidden by
the side doors when they're closed. Remove the screws
and also the two knobs which hold the reflex port panel.
The grille cloth frame then comes right out, revealing the
panel on which the speaker should be mounted. This is
held in place by a whole series of screws around the edge.
— We might also mention that you do not need to drill a
hole in the board between the woofer and tweeter compart-
ment for speaker wire; it's already there.

Finally, two words of praise: one to Oliver Read for
excellent design and one to Angle-Genesee for exceptional-
ly good cabinetry. This cabinet is one of the best in con-
struction we have had around in quite a while. — C. F.

Electro- Voice 15TRX Speaker

SPECIFICATIONS (furnished by manufacturer): Triatrial 3-way
reproducer incorporating Radax principle plus Super-Sonax
very high frequency tweeter. The 12TRX is a 12-in. unit of simi-
lar design. Utilizes full ^-section m-derived crossover network.
Model 1STRX: Overall diameter, 15 1/8 in.; free-space cone
resonance, 38 cycles; magnet weight 5% lb.; frequency response,
±5 db from 30 to 15,000 cycles in recommended Regency folded
horn enclosure; mechanical crossover, 2,000 cycles; electrical
crossover, 3,500 cycles; crossover network slope, 12 db per oc-
tave ; weight 44 lb. ; depth behind panel 9 3/8 in. ; rated impedance,
16 ohms. Modal 12TRX: Same as 15TRX except: diameter
12}^ in.; free-space cone resonance, 41 cycles; magnet weight
3}^ lb.; frequency response range ±5 db from 30 to 15,000 cycles
in recommended Aristocrat enclosure; mechanical crossover
2,500 cycles; weight 38 lb.; depth behind panel, 8 in. Prlc«»:
15TRX, $135.00; 12TRX, $114.00; including crossover network
and^brilliance control. Addratt: Electro-Voice Inc., Buchanan,
Mich.

This — the 15-in. unit —
^■jfrs ' s realty a whopper! Yes,

Wm^O e^ the cone is the same diam-

eter as any other 15-in.
speaker, but the "pot"
which encloses the magnet
is monstrous: 8 in. in
diameter! And a fraction
over 4 in. deep. We had
planned on testing the
speaker in the Fold-a-Flex
enclosure developed by Ol-
iver Read (since we could
then check results in a bass reflex, rear-loaded horn, and
infinite baffle) but the pot was too big. So we put it into
a 10 cu. ft. totally enclosed box — precisely that which is
not recommended by Electro-Voice.

The 15TRX, a 3-way speaker
with front-row reproduction.

Under these poor conditions, sound was nevertheless
good. The bass needed extra help for the full-bodied
sound which we like, but the cone held together even
though bass was strongly boosted at the amplifier. Middles
were clean and brilliant. Highs were very bright; we
ran with the brilliance control almost completely off. Pro-
jection good; dispersion good; this is what we often call
a "front row" speaker. That is, the sound has the brilli-
ance of close-microphone technique, or of listening right
up close to the orchestra (as distinguished from some
speakers which give you the impression of sitting in Row
15). Balance between highs and lows was very good;
there didn't seem to be any holes or bumps in the frequency
response.

Reviewing this speaker gives us an opportunity to harp
again on two of our favorite themes. First: this is a fine
speaker. Yet — read those specifications again: the
response is given plus or minus 5 db! This is good, mind
you; there are plenty of speakers which couldn't claim
=»= 15 db over the E-V's range. But imagine even consider-
ing any other piece of hi-fi equipment which couldn't do
better than this. Speakers are improving — but they are
still the weakest link in the chain.

The second of our two themes is: always, if in any way
possible, listen to a speaker (in a good enclosure) before
deciding which is best for you, particularly if you are
going up into the upper price brackets. The E-V 15TRX
— under our listening conditions — is a front-row speaker,
as we have called it. Another speaker which we use a good
deal gives us the Row 10 impression. And as we write this
report, we are listening to still another speaker which,
mounted in the same cabinet in which we listened to the
E-V, gives a very heavy bass, thereby moving us over to

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

one side in the orchestra where the bass viols predominate.

This brings up another matter: the importance of the
cabinet. Electro-Voice gives very specific directions in
regard to enclosures. The instructions state clearly that
optimum bass response from the 15TRX will be obtained
in direct radiator folded horns such as the E-V Regency.
If an infinite baffle is used, ideal volume is said to be
35 cu. ft. or more; under these circumstances, bass response
will be flat within 5 db to 35 or 40 cycles. The instruc-
tions go on to say that if only 4 to 8 cu. ft. is available,
"bass response will suffer and the low range will be com-
pressed by about one octave." Instructions for offsetting
this deficiency somewhat by porting the enclosure are
given. Incidentally, the instructions which accompany this
speaker are unusually complete.

As we said earlier, we tested this speaker in a totally
enclosed cabinet of about 10 cu. ft.; it was not ported.
Nevertheless, bass response was clean but not heavy;
it could have been improved, and the range extended by
correct enclosure.

Construction is that of a wide-range woofer plus sepa-
rate tweeter. Two cones are attahced to a single (main)
voice coil. The large cone carries the low frequencies;
the smaller cone, attached to the same voice coil, carries
frequencies from about 2,000 cycles on up. Attached to
the frame of the speaker is the high frequency tweeter;
it is mounted in line (coaxially) with the main cone but
is not in any way connected to it. — C. F.

MANUFACTURER'S COMMENT) We wish to compliment you on ■ report that
ia clear, comprehensive and complete. We have one observation to make
on this report, however, and that is the implication that the baffle require-
ments are more stringent on the 1STRX than they are for any other 15- in.
unit of high quality and reasonably low cone resonance. 35 cu. ft. of volume
behind the cone is about optimum for any good IS- in. loudspeaker: a 10 cu.
ft. cabinet ported or otherwise is loo small for any 15-in. loudspeaker, if we
are to consider the optimum. The cone resonance of the speaker actually
determine* this optimum back volume because the linear stiffness of this
volume becomes the controlling factor if it is large enough, rather than the
non-linear stiffness of the cone suspension. This stiffness of the cone sus-
pension, of course, is what determines the free space cone resonance of the
speaker.

Craftsmen C900 Tuner

SPECIFICATIONS (furnished by manufacturer): Model C900 is
an FM tuner with variable AFC, for use with or without an
associated audio control unit. Controls: Variable AFC, AC on-
off and Volume, Tuning. Sensitivity; 1 microvolt for 20 db
quieting. Drift: Negligible with AFC; without AFC, =^20 kc.
after 10 seconds. Bandwidth: 250 kc. Response: 20 to 20,000
cycles, =±= H db. Distortion: Less than .1% IM (60 and 7,000
cycles, 1:1, 30% mod.) Output: 2 volts at 30% mod. Nolsa:
60 db or more below 1 volts output. Dimensions: 13J-3 > n - wide
by 7 1/8 high by deep, plus lj£ in. for knobs. Tubas: 3-6BK7A,
4-6CB6, 6AU6, 12AU7, 5Y3GT. Also 2-IN64 germanium diodes.
Price: $119.50. Manufacturer: The Radio Craftsmen, Inc., 4401
N. Ravenswood Avenue, Chicago 40, 111.

Many of the good ideas incorporated in the C900 tuner are
brand new; others are new with Craftsmen equipment.
Probably the most important of the former is putting the
variable AFC (automatic frequency control) knob among
the front-panel controls. With this control can be ob-
tained precisely the amount of AFC action that is desir-
able in any given situation, from none at all to a fast-
acting, rigid control. With the AFC turned off (maxi-
mum counter-clockwise) a weak, distant station can be
tuned in exactly even if it is next to a strong local station;

June, 1954

with full clockwise rotation a fairly strong station can
be tuned in at night and the set turned off — when the
system is turned on in the morning, no retuning will be
necessary while the tuner warms up.

This is also the first tuner made by Craftsmen that is
FM-only, and the first that does not have tone controls,
a selector switch, and a phono preamplifier. These omis-
sions permit a lower price label and, at the same time,
represent a recognition of the present trend toward sepa-
rate, more flexible preamp-control units. Craftsmen hasn't
gone as far in this direction as some, however: a volume
control is included on the front panel, and we think it
a wise retention.

The manufacturer points out that printed-circuit con-
struction for the IF transformers, and the use of large-
value IF capacitors, eliminate the need for realignment
of the IF section when tubes are replaced. This fea-
ture, in addition to a test jack brought up through the
chassis, should simplify maintenance and make service
calls more economical. The test jack, incidentally, is
connected to the grid circuit of the first limiter; a
high -impedance voltmeter clipped to the jack would
serve as a signal-strength and /or tuning indicator.

Sensitivity of the tuner is very high, although some
increase in sensitivity was noted when an excellent booster
was attached. Nevertheless the tuner is in the highest
rank in that respect. The audio output was quite satisfac-
tory, clean and high in level, low in noise. Limiting was
good.

One bug was found in the tuner we had for testing —
the tuning control slipped to an annoying degree, particu-
larly when we tried to make slow, precise adjustments.
This may be simply an unfortunate rare occurrence, but
those who can do so are advised to check this before pur-
chase.

Installation and operating instructions are complete and
clear. Furnished also are an audio output cable with
plugs attached, an indoor twin-lead antenna, and mount-
ing hardware. — R. A.

MANUFACTURER'S COMMENT: Although your findings on the C900 are rather
complete, we are sorry no mention was made of the additional advantages
offered by the 20.6-mc. IF. In urban installations where high signal levels
are encountered, sensitive receivers utilizing the conventional 10.7-mc. IF
usually exhibit repeat tuning points or spurious images. The 20.6-mc. IF
almost completely rids the C900 of this problem. Oscillator radiation, in
addition to being below the FCC recommendation, is entirely outside the
FM band and thus cannot cause interference with other FM receivers.

It was unfortunate that some of our earlier units were shipped with dial-
cord linkages using inadequately-tempered dial springs which relaxed after
continued usage. Properly tempered springs have been used on all subsequent
C900's and of course we will be glad to replace any defective springs.

C900 tuner has variable AFC and volume controls on front panel.

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Stark Solder-Quik Iron

SPECIFICATIONS (furnished by manufacturer): The Solder-Quik
is a soldering tool consisting of a pair of carbon electrodes at the
end'of two conducting arms that are set in a wooden handle,
and a step-down transformer (supplied.) Electrodes are placed
on work to be soldered, and intense heat is generated instantly
at conduction path. Operating voltage: to 12% volts at

electrodes, depending on heat Selected. Power consumption: 5 to
250 watts. Prico: $19.95. Manufacturer: Stark Manufacturing
Company, P.O. Box 489, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Solder-Quik tool furnishes a wide range of soldering beats.

The manufacturer's literature on the Solder-Quik is ad-
dressed primarily to servicemen and electronic manufac-
turers, rather than consumers, and it is obvious that the
unit was designed for the first two groups. But it does
have many features that will appeal to the hobbyist.

Electro-Voice FM Booster

SPECIFICATIONS (furnished by manuf acturer) : Model 3005FM
(Tune-O-Matic) booster is a wide-band low-noise FM signal pre-
amplifier designed to improve reception in low-signal areas and in
strong-signal areas where indoor antennas are used. No tuning
is required; signal level is increased 10 times, or 20 db, throughout
the FM band from 88 to 108 mc. Hi-lo gain switch provided to
limit gain on extra-strong signals. Impedance: 300 ohms input and
output. Power consumption: 12 watts; automatic power switch
suitable for loads from 40 to 250 watts. Cafe: gray screened metal
case with rubber feet, 5j^by4by 5 3/8 in. Weight: 2j^lb. Tubes:
2-6J6 dual triodes. Price: $27.00. Monufoeturen Electro-Voice,
Inc., Buchanan, Mich.

' One primary requirement in a booster is low input cir-
cuit noise, because extremely weak signals from the an-
tenna must be greater in amplitude than this noise to
permit proper limiting. Another requirement is high gain,
so that the tuner will be fed a signal large enough to
override its own input circuit noise and which, when
amplified by the tuner, will operate the limiter in a satis-
factory manner. The E-V 3005FM booster passes both
these important tests with excellent grades. It gave a
significant improvement in weak-signal performance even
when used with a late model high-sensitivity tuner. That
is no reflection on the tuner; on the contrary, it simply
illustrates the fine performance of the E-V unit.

There are other aspects of the booster design that de-
serve commendation because they contribute to operating
convenience. First, no tuning is required; gain is uniform-
ly high over the FM band. Second, the booster is turned

In effect, it is a miniature arc welder with two slightly
separated carbon electrodes at its working end. To use
the iron it is necessary only to complete, with the joint to be
soldered, the circuit between the two electrodes. There
are six choices of heat; I found number two (next to
the coolest) to be about right for the work I was doing
(wiring a Heathkit preamp.) Caution should be observed
in the choice of soldering heat, because the "upper" posi-
tions seem to be extremely hot.

Three major advantages of the tool are its lightness,
the fact that it is always ready for work, and — you can't
burn yourself if you grab the hot end. There appears to
be some danger of a short: when the uninsulated metal
arms below the handle both touched the chassis at the
same time, sparks flew. But the voltage is far too low to
present any danger of electrical shock to the operator,
and the metal arms can be effectively insulated by wrapping
them with Scotch tape.

Tinning a wire presented something of a problem —
as did overheating, at first. As with any new product,
however, its maximum utility can be realized only as the
user becomes experienced in its operation. — W. S.

MANUFACTURER'S COMMENT: There are two points that we would like to
mention. First, the Solder Quik is referred to as an "iron," which is a little
misleading. We thought possibly tool, machine, device or some other word
might be more descriptive. ,

Second, you have offered the suggestion that the metal arms might be
insulated by wrapping with Scotch tape, which on light work would be all
right. On heavier soldering jobs these arms become quite hot and we do not
know a tape that will withstand the temperature they may reach. A num-
ber of insulating coatings have been tried on these arms but so far none has
been found that is satisfactory. As you stated, no damage is done by inter-
mittent contact while in use and if they should be permanently shorted the
fuse in the transformer will blow, thus minimizing any damage that might
be done.

on and off with the tuner in a unique and clever way —
plug the booster's AC cord into a wall receptacle, and the
tuner's power cord into the AC outlet on the booster; when
the tuner is turned on a thermal relay in the booster turns
it on too. It works for tuners drawing more than 40 watts
but no more than 250 watts. Third, brackets are furnished
for mounting the booster vertically, so you can install it
anywhere out of sight and forget it.

We think that the extra performance capability and the
conveniences of the 3005FM make it well worth its price,
which is somewhat higher than that of others. — R. A.

E-V booster is controlled by tuner, can be mounted out of view.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

devotion oj
the craftsman
for the

object
be creates

is shown by the infinite care taken with minute details. Jedele Barnia fashioned this pandurina in Venice in 1765. Jhe pains he

took to cut and fit his bits of cedarwood, \vory and ebony are immediately apparent to the eye.
Immediately apparent to the ear is the care taken by Jim Lansing craftsmen in forming and assem-
bling Signature Speakers and enclosures. Jhe objective of all concerned in the fabrication of this
outstanding sound reproduction equipment is to make every note a perfect c{uote.

A modem WOrk Of deVOled Craftsmanship. This is the Jim Lansing Rear-loaded Corner Horn, mode] number 3*, with the DOOl 3-unit,
2-way system including fifteen inch low frequency unit, cross-over network, and high frequency unit with the one and only Koustical Lens.
Widely used also with 15" or 11" General Purpose Signature Speakers.

JAMES B. LANSING SOUND, INC. • 2439 Tletcher Drive, Los Angeles 39, California

www.americanradiohistorv.com

THORgNJ

exclusive
direct-drive . . .
the difference

to the ear [„
is here . . .

ES3PA
Transcription
Turntable

Rubber belts, pulleys, idler wheels and other wearable eleiaenla of friction-drive turn-
tables contribute to unwanted noise and pitch variation. There arr pnsi? of these in a Thorens
. . . instead the ideals of silence and speed regularity are realized by a direct-drive motor
whose speed is perfectly controlled by a governor. You can maniulLy adjust the speed for
"exact pitch" on 78, 45 and 33-1/3 rpm records. Furthermore, S]>i^d is not affected by heat
or load conditions!

Acting through an electronically balanced rotor shaft further silenced by a mechanical
filter, the turntable is kept free of wow or waver. Only direct-drive permits better positioning
and machining of fast-rotating parts, as well as better vibration dampening — thus primary
sources of rumble are eliminated. In test, a Thorens turntable maintains a noise level of
— 48db . . . truly unparalleled performance indeed.

For first installation or replacement, it is certainly worth your while to hear the quality
of Thorens turntables, players and changers before you make your choice. You will agree,
we know, that at last . . . the difference to the ear is here!

At leading
high fidelity
departments
Write
for latest
literature:

Thorens Company, Dept. A, New Hyde Park, N. Y

CD-43

SUMMER MUSIC

Continued from page 31

Grant Park Concerts

(Grant Park, Chicago, 111.) June

23-August 15.
Free concerts, sponsored by Chicago
Park District, by symphony orchestra
conducted by Nicolai Malko, with
special programs conducted by Harry
Carlson, Franz Allers, Silvio Insana,
Andre Kostelanetz, Leo Kopp, Franco
Autorij Milton Katims, Alfredo An-
tonini, Julius Rudel and Joseph
Rosenstock. Soloists include: Gary
Graffman, Mischa Elman, Leonard
Pennario, Genevieve Warner, Frank
Rogier, Fritz Siegal, Vivian della
Chiesa, Camilla Wicks, Eva Likova,
Thomas Hayward, Jan Peerce, Eudice
Shapiro, Jorge Bolet, Elaine Skorodin,
and Ellen Faull. Special events in-
clude an ail-American program, a
Gershwin program, a Rodgers and
Hammerstein program, a Viennese
program, a Tchaikovsky program, and
concert performances of La Bobime
and Madama Butterfly, not to mention
an appearance by the Swedish Choral
Club!

Pacific Coast Festival

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) June 24-
July 4.

Concerts by the Chamber Orchestra of
the San Francisco Symphony, con-
ducted by Antal Dorati and Walter
Hendl. Lectures, in cooperation with
the Columbia University Bicentennial
Committee, on "Man's Right to
Knowledge and the Free Use Thereof."

Cincinnati Summer Opera

(Cincinnati, Ohio). June 28- Aug. 1.
Opera performances in Zoological
Gardens Pavilion, under musical di-
rectorship of Fausto Cleva.

Central City Festival

(Central City, Colo.) June 26-JuIy 24.
Performances on the stage of the small
opera house in this restored mining-
town of Gounod's Faust (2 1 perform-
ances, designed and directed by Lemuel
Nagy) and Strauss's Ariadne au/Naxos
(13 performances, designed by Lemuel
Nagy) and Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos
( 1 3 performances, designed by Lemuel
Continued on page 88

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

UMritosh

LABORATORY, INC.

60 ^
lOO/o

perfect amplification

Featuring the Patented Mcintosh Circuit

3CLfl(ii purer

The power you need with the distortion
free performance you can always expect with
a Mcintosh. Companion model to the Mcintosh
50, this new Model A- 116 was designed
expressly for those who demand professional
performance in home sound reproduction
systems. It features the same patented Mcintosh
output transformer circuit as in the
widely acclaimed 50 watt model. Step up
your listening pleasure . . . step up to a 30
watt Mcintosh high fidelity amplifier.

LOST INSTRUM

Do you have your copy of the booklet
"Lost Instruments"? It's a free 32 page explanation of
the why's and wherefore's of high fidelity sound.
Write for yours today 1

* All but 0.0016 0/ power output is a perfect
reproduction ot input signals at 30 watts.

June, 1954

LABORATORY, INC.

320 Water Street • linghamfon, New York
(■pert Divide*. H Werren St., New »erk 7, N. T.

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Orit^ —

IfHl

Altec Lansing speakers are the ONLY speakers that carry this unconditional
guarantee - because Altec Lansing is the ONLY manufacturer that tests
every loudspeaker in an acoustical laboratory to insure that the frequency
response of each DUPLEX* is held within 2V2 db of the production standard
throughout its entire range from 30 to 22,000 cycles.

The quality guarantee tag on each Altec Lansing DUPLEX* speaker is your
assurance of exacting quality control through each step of manufacture.

601A-12*

20 watts

$99.00
with network

♦Duplex: Mechanically
and electrically independent
high and low frequency
loudspeakers mounted
within the physical
size of a single
frame.

602A-1S

20 watts

$114.00
with network

604C-1S'

35 watts

$156.00
with network

These DUPLEX* speakers are the finest

in the world. Hear them at your Altec Lansing

dealer's today. Write for illustrated brochure.

ALTEC*

9356 Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, Calif.
161 Sixth Avenue, New 1 3, New York 1 3, N. Y.

TALKING MACHINE

Continued from page 28?

, The advertisement also established
Consolidated's credentials: "Our fac-
tory has made all the genuine Gramo-
phones sold in the world." In other
advertisements Douglass touted the
Johnson line of gramophones, which
ranged from a toy, hand-driven model
at three dollars to the well-tried Im-
proved Gramophone at $25. Slowly,
the large inventory in Camden began
to be translated into cash. At the end
of 1900 Consolidated's business was
still just gaining momentum, but it
was sufficient to have kept Johnson
from the hands of his creditors.

With the arrival of the new year
came a fresh blow from Seaman. In
the courts he charged that jEldridge
Johnson's business was a thinly dis-
guised subsidiary of the g Berliner
Gramophone Company, and he asked
for an injunction halting Consoli-
dated's manufacture of gramophones
and preventing its further use of the
word "gramophone." Johnson him-
self went before the judge to plead
against the granting of the injunction.
His entire enterprise was at stake and
he presented his case in his deliberate
Yankee drawl with profound convic-
tion. This time, in a Philadelphia
court, the decision went against Sea-
man. The injunction halting manufac-
ture was refused. Only in one particu-
lar did Seaman get his way: the court
did agree to enjoin Johnson from use
of the word "gramophone." Even
that decision was reversed in the Court
of Appeals two months later. But
Johnson did not take advantage of it.
The word "gramophone" really be-
longed to Berliner, and at the moment
Johnson's relations with Berliner were
uncertain. He decided to use a name
all his own, and he chose Victor —
Victor Talking Machines and Victor
Records. It was euphonious and
evocative of success.

By sustaining Johnson's right to
manufacture and sell gramophones,
Philadelphia's Judge Gray had de-
livered a telling blow to Frank Sea-
man's ambitious plans for the piratical
Zonophone. Soon after, the Zono-
phone fortunes declined still further
when Emile Berliner's lawyers suc-
Continued on page 84

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

IRUEV

the House

of Audio

PENTRON

TAPE RECORDER UNIT

For Custom Installation in
High Fidelity Sound Systems

Consiitt of the new Pentron 'I -speed Tape
Mechanism, Model 9T-3M, ond De Luxe
Pre-omplifier, Model HFP-1. This combina-
tion converts ony high fidelity sound sys*
tern into a high quality tope recorder ond
playback system. Can bo hod with either
tingle or dual-track heads.
The preamplifier provides a wide frequency response, and feeds o signal
of extremely low distortion to your main amplifier. It is provided with
on illuminated VU meter, volume Control, monitor iack, monitor switch,
motor switch, ploy/record selector switch, and input-output jacks.

Comptete (Models 9T-3M and HFP-1 $119.50

CARRYING CASE Model X304 for above unit! in portable
applications — — ~ — ~—

.15.00

BOZAK

B-207 SPEAKER

and R-J

ENCLOSURE

A high quality speaker system, ideally suited for the home. The BOZAK
it o cooxial speoker assembly consisting of 0 duol tweeter and
12-inch woofer. Frequency response is substantially flat from 40 to
16,000 Cycles with effective useful response extending to beyond 20,000
cycle*. The power rating is 15 watts (peaks to 30 watts) and the nominal
Impedance is 8 ohms.

Th« R-J 5peaker Enclosure effectively compliments the performance of
the B-207, ond reproduces the low frequencies cleanly ond without hong-
over* Styled as a floor model, the R-J measures only 20 x 20 x 16 -

$76.50

Eoiak B-207

R-J Speaker Enclosure FM-12 (Mahogany)
FB-12 (Blond)

49.95
54.50

PIL0TUNER

Model AF-824
FM-AM TUNER

A sensitive, selective, and stable tuner designed for high fidelity appli-
cations. FM section is provided with temperature compensotion against
drift, as well as AFC which can be cut out by means of front panel dis-
abling switch. Effects 20db quieting with only 10 microvolt signal. AM
section employs separate tuning condenser. Output is .2 volts with 10
microvolt signal. Has built-in preamp equaliier for LP, NAB, AES, and
Foreign recordings. Frequency response isr+rVadb from 20 to 20,000
cycles. Separate boss ond treble control circuits permit up to 19db boost
or attenuation ot 20 and 20,000 CPS. Colhode follower provides low
impedance, permitting long line to moin amplifier without high frequency
loss, and without hum pickup. Power supply is self-contained.
Complete with Tubes and Front Escutcheon. SI 1 9,50

Visit the HARVEY AUDIOtorium

If you want to See ond Hear the finest . . . the widest
selection of high fidelity equipment ... be sure to visit
the HARVEY AUDIOtorium. It will thrill you.
NOTE: Prices Net, F.O.B., N'.Y.C. Subject to change without notice.

CRAFTSMEN
400

High Fidelity
AUDIO AMPLIFIER

A 10 watt amplifier with performance

quality and specifications not normally associated

with units at such low cost. Frequency response at room level

('/: watt) is ±ldb from 10 to 30,000 cycles. Power response at 10 watt*

extends from 15 to 20,000 cycles ±ldb- Total harmonic distortion j* less

than 1% at 10 watts, and intermodulotion distortion less thon 5%.

Employs a direct-coupled cathodyne phase inverter operating two 6V6

push-pull output tubes. Negative feedback (13.5db) includes the output

transformer, output tubes and phase inverter within its loop. The 400 is

designed to operate from any tuner, preomp, cryital cartridge, or other

.7. volt signal source. Output impedance taps of 4, 8, and 16 ohms permit

operation with any speaker system.

Complete with tubes — $42.90

THE

COLLARO

Model 3/531
Fully Automatic 3 Speed
RECORD CHANGER

A truly fine unit designed for use with 7, 10,
and 12-inch records. Four-pole motor with self-aligning oilite bearings,
weighted turntoble, boll-bearing mounted ond rim-driven, provide steady,
tonstont speeds. Molded rubber drives automatically disengage in 'off'
position ... no belts are used. Turntable is rubber-molted and easily
kept clean. Tone arm is ball-bearing Suspended for maximum compliance,
and adjusts to os little as 3 grams pressure with good tracking. Has
automatic muting switch, ond automatic shut-off ofter last record . . *
absolutely iom -proof, and hum -free- <t AH Si 7

Accommodates all standard cartridges. $**U.O/

PICKERING

TURN-OVER CARTRIDGE

Model DD 260 with S/LA00
diamond stylii

Engineered and constructed with the care and craftsmanship which
have gained Pickering Cartridges a position in the top ranks, the ntnu
model DD-260 has been designed to ploy standard os well as micro-
groove records at 33'/ 3 , 45, and 78 rpm. It consists of a cartridge,,
swivel. mounted, and provided with a lever-knob for convenient turn*
over. The model DD-260 is provided with 2 diamond stylii. The entire
unit fits easily into standard tone arm*.

HI-FI SPECIAL!

Famous Imported Output Tubes

MATCHED KT-66

for Balanced Push-Pull Operation
Replace: 6L6, 161 4, and 5881 tubes

per pair *6«*5

The New
RECORD CLEANING COMPOUND

Effectively removes all foreign matter from the
record grooves: grease, dust and grit particles,
thereby increasing ihe useful life of your pickup
stylus and records.

Per bottle _ - - »2.50

K-33

June, i 954

HHRUEV

COMPANY, INC.
1 03 W. 43rd Street, New York 36, N. Y. JUdson 2-1 500

www.americanradiohistorv.com

Pentron

AM-FM Tuner
Model AFM

Terrific in Performance
Modest in Price

A new outstanding AM-FM tuner which meets the demands of the most critical
listener. Featuring: Separate low-noise Iron) end with grounded grid trlode RF
amplifiers. Sensitivity FM; 5 microvolts lor 30 db quieting. Armstrong Discrimin-
ator with push-button AFC simplifies tuning and eliminates drift. Flat frequency
response; 20 to 20,000 cps, ±1 db. Separate bass and treble controls, continuously
variable. Illuminated slide rule dial. Flywheel tuning control. Magnetic cartridge
preamplifier with 3 position equalization switch; LP, European and AES. Cathode
follower output. Unique "Tape-Mate" features tape recorder output for recording
on tape while listening to broadcast. Operates on 105-125 volts, 60 cps AC. 30
watts. Has 9 tubes plus selenium rectifier. Front panel, brushed copper with
wrought Iron black controls. Size: 10-5/16jc4'/bx8'- Shpg. wt., 91/2 lbs.

96F350. NET 07.73

The AFM is inter-matched with Pentron's Tape Transport Mechanism and Pre-
amplifiers. Thus, with power amplifier and speaker, a complete high fidelity
system is created. , T *»

t'.C.v

PENTRON 9T3M MECHANISM

Here is low cost high fidelity tape recording.
Basic mechanism for use with high fidelity
audio system, PA system, amplifier radio or TV
set, for recording broadcast programs, copying
favorite records, etc. Provides professional per-
formance and versatility of operation at low
cost. This dual- track mechanism has two mag-
netic heads — one for record and playback, the
other for erase. Have removable pole pieces.
Two recording and playing speeds. 3%" and
7>/j" per second. Push button for speed change.
Super-speed forward or rewind. Shaded 4 pole
balanced motor. Complete with template and
schematic. For 110-120 volts. 60 cycles AC. Size:
10Vjx9'/sx7". Shpg. wt., 10>/s lbs. rn «

74F909. NET 97.75

PENTRON HFP-1 PRE-AMPLIFIER

Pentron offers wide frequency response with
minimum of distortion for hours of listening
enjoyment. Fully wired, ready to plug into any
Hi-Fi system. Complete with illuminated VU
Recording Meter, Monitor Jack, Motor Switch,
Volume Control, Play-Record Switch, Output
and Input lacks. Brushed copper front panel.
Response: 50-12,000 cps, ±3 db. Operates on
117 volts. 60 cps AC. 25 watts, playback; 30
watts, record. 5 tubes. Size: 91/ 2 x4V«x5V8".
Shpg. wt.. 7>/j lbs. rex

74F921. NET DT./D

Model PMD-1— Consists of Pre- Amp HFP-1, and
Recorder 9T3M pre-mounted in carrying case.
Shpg. wt., 30 lbs. mtA cn

74F922. NET 1 i<*.0\J

PENTRON Model HT-225

Newark's New Modern
High Fidelity Demonstration
Rooms. Hear and see everything
in High Fidelity . . . featuring
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3 SPEAKER HIGH FIDELITY TAPE RECORDER

New and unique three speaker placement assures full
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(roving speaker), can be placed anywhere for binaural
effect. Two recording and playing speeds at the push
of a button: 3 3 /« ips. for two hours of recording on a 7"
reel; or 7>/s ips, for one hour. Amplifier equalizes auto-
matically at either speed. Has fast forward and rewind
speeds (20-1) 70 seconds for 1,200 feet. Editing key per-
mits deleting or adding to record tape. Positive inter-
lock switch prevents accidental erasure and tape spill-
age. Frea. range: 7>/i ips, 50-10,000 cycles; 3V« ips. 50-
5,000 cycles. Speakers: 3-Alnico V; 2-6" woofers in re-
corder case; 1-4" tweeter in lid, removable to any part
of the room for dimensional sound presence effect. Com-
plete LC crossover network at 1,000 cycles. Power out-
put: 5 watts. Signal to noise ratio: 50 db. Flutter less
than 0.5%. Magic eye recording level indicator. Input
jacks for microphone, radio, TV sound or phonograph.
Auxiliary amplifier tack for direct connection to external
amplifier. In portable case, 15%xl5xll", 105-125 volts,
60 cycles AC. Shpg. wt.. 35 lbs. 1 zo

74F920. List price §225.00. NET 1 OO./O

Order from Dept. H-6

g^F.O.B. Chicago, Include shipping
and insurance charges.

3 West Madison Street Chicago 6, Illinois

TALKING MACHINE

Continued from page 82

ceeded in raising the infamous Seaman
injunction of June 25, 1900, that
shrewd piece of legal chicanery master-
minded by the Graphophone attorney,
Philip Mauro, which had wrested
control of the gramophone from the
very man who invented it. Thanks
to the redress of legal justice, Emile
Berliner could once again call his
patent his own.

But was he really in a position to
exercise sovereignty over the embat-
tled gramophone? A new power in
the person of Eldridge Johnson had
emerged during Berliner's year of en-
forced idleness and was now to be
reckoned with. Johnson's relations
with Berliner had always been cordial;
never was there any question but that
Johnson recognized Berliner's patent
and his rights to royalties. Still, the
situation in mid- 1901 was skitteringly
delicate. Though Berliner owned the
basic patent, Johnson had contributed
substantially to the invention. He had
furnished it with a motor and an im-
proved soundbox and had developed
a successful process for recording
disks in wax. Overriding all other
considerations were the physical facts
of Johnson's factory and sales organiz-
ation: he controlled a going business,
Berliner merely controlled a patent.

While the two men negotiated,
Johnson's sales surged steadily up-
ward. He was at last beginning to
reap the benefits from his unquestioned
genius for manufacture. By September
1 901, a year after Johnson had started
selling gramophones on his own, his
12-month net profit had reached the
staggering total of $180,000.

In six years the Camden modelmaker
had come a long way. And he was
content to call a halt. Johnson had
never wanted to become an industrial
tycoon; the pressures of big business
were not to his liking, and he wel-
comed the chance to sell out and re-
tire on the proceeds. But it was not
to be. Although he offered his busi-
ness in its entirety to the Berliner
group, they could not (or would not)
raise sufficient funds to purchase his
interests. A multitude of counter-
proposals were entertained and re-
Continued on page 85

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

NEWCOMB

Brings High Rde/ity fo £veryone . . .

with the New

Never before has true high fidelity been so easy to achieve! Newcomb's new
Compact 10 Amplifier offers simplicity of installation, ease of operation, and the
lasting pleasure which comes only from carefully engineered high fidelity com-
ponents ... all at low cost!

TALKING MACHINE

Continued from page 84

jected. At last Berliner and Johnson
agreed^on a plan calling for the forma-
tion of a new corporation under
Johnson's management in which the
Berliner people were to receive 40%
of the common stock and Johnson
most of the remainder. For their
share in the company Berliner and his
associates contributed the gramophone
patents; for his share Johnson con-
tributed the plant, a flourishing busi-
ness, and his own services. The new
enterprise was incorporated on Octo-
ber 3, 1901, and named the Victor
Talking Machine Company.

No one could have guessed it then,
but on that day the talking machine
in America had come of age.

AUDIOPHILES

Continued from page 32

the typewriter away and picked up my
tools again. Mozart has done his
part; now I must do mine.

In conclusion, I recommend that all
lonely music-listeners consider the ad-
vantages of raising their own audio-
philes. The pleasures and satisfactions
of having a miniature audiophile in
your home surpass even the claims of
audio manufacturers for their equip-
ment. And, unlike their elders, the
young audiophiles are not likely to
make detrimental comparisons between
their equipment or records and yours.
You know what I mean. You play
your most superb recording to what
you hope will be an appreciative audi-
ence. After critically listening to the
music, the audience comes up with
this lone comment: "You know, I
could have gotten that speaker for you
wholesale." This will never happen
with your own miniature audiophile —
whatever you have is the best there is.

In the July Issue:

,"The Emergence of Berlioz"
by

John N. Burk

Tune, 1954

SIMPLE TO INSTALL

No engineering genius needed to connect
this fine amplifier! The user simply plugs a
record changer into the Compact 10, con-
nects two wires from a loudspeaker to the
screw terminals, and his music system is
ready! The Compact 1 0 is a complete 10 watt
amplifier, pre-amplifier and control unit.

BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED

Weighing only 9 pounds, the Compact 10 is
just 5 7 /s x 734 x 9H inches. Ideal for music
systems in apartments — when you move, it
goes right with you with a minimum of
trouble. Removable dial panel in new ano-
dized finish looks like brushed brass but will
not tarnish — truly a decorator's delight!

MINIMUM COST

Here is a true high fidelity amplifier within
the range of every music lover. Priced at only
$79.50, the Compact 10 also eliminates the
need for cabinetry (other than the speaker
enclosure) .

SUPERIOR ENGINEERING

• Six inputs include radio, microphone, high
output magnetic pickup, low output mag-
netic pickup, crystal pickup, and tape input.
All easily accessible'

• New tape output jack lets you record
while listening.

• Distortion-free response. Distortion be-
low 1% at 10 watts and response is 20 to
20,000 cycles ± 1 db.

• Rumble Filter built in.

• Six position recording curve selector,
including foreign 78, domestic 78, London,
Columbia, RCA/NAB and A.E.S.

• Separate bass and treble tone controls
equalize for local conditions. New "Inter-
locked" tone circuitry reduces need for fre-
quent changes of tone control settings.

• Controls include bass tone, treble tone,
record crossover, input selector and loudness
control. New no-glare "petite" pilot light.

• Fully U/L approved for complete safety.

• Hum balance control assures lowest hum.
Output impedances are 8 and 16 ohms. Five
tubes used: two 12AX7; two 6V6GT; one
6AX5.

Visit your Newcomb dealer. Inspect the Com-
pact 10 carefully . . . listen to its superb repro-
duction . . . compare it with more expensive
amplifiers. See for yourself how wonderfully
simple and convenient it is to use . . . how
glorious high fidelity can be with Newcomb's
Compact 10 Amplifier!

Listen . . ■
and you'll
hear something
wonderful !

True High Fidelity Since 7937

NEWCOMB

HIGH FIDELITY AMPLIFIERS

The Heart of Your Home Music System

Sand tbdir ier "MGdt™
Cianis in tound." kind,
inmnli UNslrilid bM»iel
h hlEh Mdelllj.

NEWCOMB AUDIO PRODUCTS CO., Dept. W6
6824 Lexington Ave., Hollywood 38, Calif.

Pleas* send me free booklet, "Modern Classics in Sound," and name
of my nearest Newcomb distributor. Also, send me information ont

□ Newcomb School □ Newcomb Public
Phonographs Address Systems

□ Newcomb Commercial O Further information on
Sound Systems the Compact 10

Name—

Address-

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www.americanradiohistorv.com

NEVER BEFORE
SUCH A TUNER

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Separate AM-FM front ends. Low noise
FM front end uses grounded grid triode
RF amplifier . Armstrong Discriminator
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UNIQUE "TAPE-MATE" (EATURES

1. Permits program recording at the same
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2. Tape recordings can be fed through the
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Intermatched electrically, functionally and in appear-
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here at last . . .

from DON McGOHAN

THE WA-310

HI-FI AMPLIFIER

COMPARE THESE FEATURES!

Power Output — 1 2 wdli.

Five Petition Selector Switch for radio or auxiliory
inpuli and for LP, AES ond Foreign record com-
pensation.

Seven In putt — high and low impede nee radio,
high and low impedance auxiliary and three phono
inputs for GE, Pickering and Audax prckups.
Calibrated Tone Control* — Base, -f-17 to —15
do; Treble, + 1 5 to — 16 db.

Harmonic Di»tortion — less Ihon ,5% at 10 wafts;
less than 1.0% at 1 2 watts.

Inter modul at ton Dittortion — Leu than 2% at 10
watts.

Frequency Response — 20-20,000 cps, *I db.
Hum — Minui 70 db.
Output impedance — 8 and 16 ohms.
Feedback— 1 5 db.

Tubei— 1-12AX7, 3-12AU7, 2-6V6GT, 1-5Y3GT.

Dimension! — 12' long, 7'/j" deep, 6' high.
Eaty Mounting — Removable Control panel spoCer
for custom Installation.

PRICE $113.73 list, $69.50 audiophile net.

Write for free literature

;7.\- A sensibly priced, high fidelity
amplifier-preomplifier-equol-
izer combination — On one
chassis — that will satisfy the
most critical listener with its
life-like sound reproduction.

This custom quality unit uses a
modified Williamson circuit
':'//: with the "Tri*coupted" output
transformer. An exclusive MG
design, the "Tri-cou pled" trons-
y'.y': former utilizes an original type
X;'v of output coil construction, re-
sulting in extremely low dis-
tortion at high frequencies . .
even at maximum output. The
transformer has seven coils ond
is built with grain oriented iron.

The WA-3 10 has an attroctive gold-
enameled control panel with gold
and black knobs; two AC outlets for
tuner and record player; power in-
dicator light and has provisions for
easy panel mounting.

IN STOCK NOW
AT LEADING
HIGH FIDELITY
DEALERS
FROM
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The immediate response to our announcement of a
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Startling!/ clean sound • Exceptionally low
Hum and Distortion * Variable Bass and Treble
Controls • Separofe Boss and Treble Phono
Equalizers * Independent Loudness Compen-
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Section • Mony other desiroble features

Cabinet Model $ 155 f.o.b. N.Y.C.
Chassis available at lower cost

S. b. marantz 25 West 43rd Street, New York 36, N. Y.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

AUDIO CLUB

Continued from page 40

"I don't know what we're going to
do with this club," Mankovitz said
afterward. "It keeps growing. Even
people from outside New York want
to join. The dues* don't pay the ex-
penses; the founding members all have
to chip in. Maybe we should publish
a bulletin, charge for that.

"Then, too, we have to do a lot of
trouble shooting. A musician's ears
are handy in diagnosing things like,
for instance, coaxial speakers out of
phase, which meters won't show up.
By now, though, we've had most of
the problems; usually we can solve
them by mail. Maybe we should
charge for that. What do you think?
Sometimes I think we ought to be
more businesslike. At least, we do get
discounts for members, and things
like that. I guess we do a job. Any-
way, we enjoy it."

*Three dollars a year.

SAUTER-FINEGAN

Continued from page $5

third take on a complicated number,
Nick Travis, a trumpet player, urged
Sauter to let him try to improve on a
brief solo he had toward the end.
After some general discussion about
the possibility of really improving the
solo, Sauter acquiesced.

After the first take on a different
number, another trumpet man warned
Elsasser that he intended to stand up
to play a particular passage on the
next take.

"You brought the mike up when I
did that passage before," he told the
engineer, "but that loses the other
two guys in the section. This time,
leave the mike alone and I'll stand up."

Although the band now spends the
bulk of its time playing in ballrooms,
it is heard to least advantage in these
Continued on page 88

For more information about
advertisements in High Fi-
delity use the Readers'
Service Cards facing page 80.

June, 1954

"Diamond needles prove best

by actual scientific test and measurement"

— Harold D.Weiler

DIAMOND NEEDLES

ohtr 38 hours of playing after 87 hour* of ploying after 1538 hour* of ploying

Note: This needle show*
/ess wear than the sap-
phire after 38 hours of
playing shown below.

SAPPHIRE NEEDLES

AAA

after 3Vi hours of playing after 17 hours of playing after 38 hours of playing

new

Tests, statements, and
photographs reprinted from
"The Wear and Care of Records
and Styli" by Harold D. Weiler.
Published by Climax
Publishing Co., 17 East 48th
Street, New York 17, N. Y.
We recommend this
authoritative book on proper
record care written in
understandable, non-technlcat
language. It contains
information vital for the
protection of your valuable
records. Available at your
local dealer.

"The preceding tests have proved conclusively
the superiority of the diamond tipped stylus
from the standpoint of economy, preservation
of records, and the quality of reproduction
over a given period of time."

Published- as a public service by

TETRAD

World's Largest Producer of Diamond Styli

Supplier to Manufacturers of Pick-Up Cartridges
and Phonographs

62 St. Mary Street, Yonkers 2, New York

www.americanradiohistorv.com

THE

era

mtlhlliftUi

C900 FM TUNER

Finest FM Tuner regardless of cost
Highest in Sensitivity . . .
Lowest in Distortion.

Another craftsmen first . . .
Photo-etched 20.6 mc. transilionally-coupled
IF coils insure life-long uniformity and
stability of performance under all conditions.

In every performance test by
high fidelity experts the C900 has established
its outstanding superiority.

FEATURING

Extreme Sensitivity: 1.0 ?v for 20db quieting
provided by advanced circuitry of caseodt
rf amplifier. Minimum Distortion: 0.1% IM
throughout entire receiver. Amplified AFC with
front-panel control, assures accurate
tuning for minimum distortion.
Entirety new 20.6 me. IF system rejects spurious
images, reduces oscillator radiation.

See your Hi-Fi Dealer or write to

The Radio Craftsmen, Incorporated Dept. F6
4403 North Raventwaod Avenue, Chicago 40, Illinois

$11950 net

SAUTER-FINEGAN

Continued from page 87

surroundings. Partially, this is an
acoustical problem since the noise in
a ballroom usually is rather high-
pitched and tends to mask out the
treble in the band's sound. And par-
tially it is a problem of the mechanics
of the human foot. As Sauter puts it,
"In a ballroom we have to play music
with less thought in it than we like
to play, because the people there are
primarily interested in moving their
feet and don't want to be disconcerted
by music that intrudes on them."

In hopes that their intrusion will be
as aurally pleasing as possible under
the circumstances, the band carries
a portable amplifying system designed
by Sauter's brother, a sound researcher
for Bell Laboratories. The system uses
two speakers, one on each side of the
band. Each speaker carries only the
sound projected by its side of the band.

In addition to this binaural effect,
the nine mikes used in the studio are
also used on the bandstand. It falls
to whichever of the headmen happens
to be leading the band to run — with
the hand with which he isn't conduct-
ing — the switches and pots on a
control panel covering these mikes.
This might seem an undue multiplicity
of chores but, with characteristic
diffidence, Sauter and Finegan wel-
come the situation.

"If we weren't kept busy turning
those pots," says Finegan, "we'd have
to smile at the people."

SUMMER MUSIC

Continued from page 80

Ayars and directed by Dino Yannopou-
los) with Kurt Adler as musical director
and Mimi Benzell and Brian Sullivan
in both casts. Schedule customarily
includes a legitimate play, and nego-
tiations are under way for the Broad-
way company of The Caine Mutiny
Court Martial.

Singing on The Mountain

(Linville, N. C.) June 27.
Folk-singing.

Continued on page 91

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

NEW WORLP

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Full Power from 20 to 50,000 c.p.i.

MASTER MARK IV AMPLIFIER

Perfectly balanced ami enirlneered, the
Mark IV combines all component!* illustrated below
In one chassis — pre-amp, com-
pensator, tone controls
power amplifier. Every unit
passes exhaustive electronic
and aural tests before
shipment. All Master equip-
ment is richly finished in gold
hammertone baked enamel
and supplied with re-
movable etched bronze
face plate for easy
mount Inc.

$84.50

MASTER POWER AMPLIFIER MP- 15

a 12-watt unit with a frequency response
nf 20 to 50,000 c|is plus or minus 1 illi
at full power — less than distortion.
Features: input level control,
choke filter, hermetically sealed
Triad output transformer.

$57,00

FREE CATALOG

Send card or letter for test data and
specifications on these and other components
including the BKAINAKD BIXATKAL.
tuner and amplifier
first presented at

the L.os Angeles
Audio Fiesta
Dealers Inquire.

ten position
record compensator

precision-engineered for
use with any magnetic cart-
ridge. Positions: 250 flat,
BOO flat, AES. COIj 78,
COL LP. FFRR, NAB.
VIC ORTH. VIC 7S,
XOISY.

$13.90

PRE- AMPLIFIER EQUALIZER MS-2

Completely self-powered.
Matches any power amplifier. Full
remote control. Eliminates mounting

problem. Controls: seimrate bass
and treble; Input selector — magnetic
cartridge, tape, mike, tuner, etc.;
Master record compensator,
"'• x 7" x 2i,4".

$57.00

See your local dealer or write.

MASTER^ to^^co.

85S6 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles 46, California

CCAiPENTCCL*

6y Centralab .

SENIOR C0MPENTR0L

with level-set

There's nothing eise like it!
C2-100 - - - Net Price, $4.50

JUNIOR C0MPENTR0L

Vl or 1 Meg. less

Switch --- - $2.50 Net
Va or 1 Meg. with

Switch .... $3.00 Net

Order from your Centralab distributor
Write Centralab, Dept. 939 F, Milwaukee 1, Wisconsin,
for your "Compenlrol Booklet".
*Trode Mork for Centralab'j Compensated Volume Control.

PRODUCTS

WALCO

STATI-CLEAN

ANTIofMTIC
RECORD SPRAY

STOPS STATIC DUST. Walco
Stati-Clean is your best
defense against dust— major
cause of record and needle
wear. Stati-Clean spray cleans the disc
surface, stops static electricity that
attracts dust. Handling and "dusting"
no longer builds up static. Stati-Clean
improves fidelity, eliminates static
"crackle " Lasts dozens of plays, no
need to reapply each time. Tested safe —
thousands sold. Complete with special
applicator cloth.

PROTECTIVE SLEEVES
FOR RECORDS

Walco DISCOVERS
— now with the new
contoured bottom — are
the perfect answer to record
protection. You slide your records into
DISCOVERS, then into the original
jacket. No more scratches, mois-
ture or finger marks from handling.
DISCOVERS seal out dust, protect
against extremes of temperature, acci-
dental spillage of liquids. Tbey keep the
sound safe and sound! Packaged 12
12-in. sleeves or 15 10-in. sleeves.

'.^■U- WALCO

IpREPlACEIVIENT

^,Jk-*> NEEDLES

FOR LONGER RECORD LIFE

Osmium and sapphire-tipped sty li are rated
only about 20 to 60 hours of play, after which
they develop chi»el-edged flat*. These flats
shear highs from your records, ruin groove
walls. Periodic reeile replacement is an nfe-
so'ule necextity for the serious music lover.
Ynu replace with the finest when you replace
with Walco needle <md the superb Walco
Diamond) - first choice of major cartridge
manuf jet urers.

SEND FOR FREE BOOKLETS

ON NEEDLE AND ACCORD CARE

AT LEADING MUSIC DEALERS EVERYWHERE

Trode Name of Ff»ctro*ojr Co., far,
li 60-H Franklin St., East Orange, N. J.

June, 1954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

The Finest Recording...

Played on the Finest Turntable.

With the Finest Hookup . . .

...sounds BAD with
a worn-out needle

REPLACE YOUR NEEDLE
FREQUENTLY... and

ALWAYS INSIST ON

PERNIO

PHONO NEEDLES

At q&Wl HI-FI UtfXfiLf 04-
i&iuice d&sleA

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Chicago 26

AVAILABLE ONLY IN THESE KIT COMBINATIONS

W-8 with lVrrhss transformer or W-3 with
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liii UuU's \\ llliamson I) nw .implltlpr sep ir m
power sup pi > iiul \v K-V2 i>reampll- *pn rn
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W-4 with < tileago "super range"* transformer
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true sfcyf PO^oOrt

FIDELITY ^

AMPLIFIER KIT

Here is the famous kit form William type high fidelity amplifier that
has deservedly earned highest praise from every straia of Hi-fi music
lover*. Virtually distortionless, clean musiial reproduction . full range
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OUTPUT TRANSFORMERS — Three truly fine output transformers
available for your ^election. Peerlfe** and Acrosound transformers speci-
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NEW PREAMPLIFIER — The exciting new WA-P2 preamplifier pro-
vides lull control through jis > individually controlled input circuits,
■l position turnover and roll-ofT switches — separate bass and treble
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amel finish, functional in design. Will operate with any Heath kit Wil-
liamson type amplifier.

BUILD IT YOURSELF — Combined with brilliant performance of these units
is the amazingly modest investment required and the fun of building it yourself.
Detailed siep-by-step construction manual complete with illustrations and pictorials
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Complete spenfnatiou and tthematit t facet at ai fable upon retfitcst.

HEATH COMPANY, BENTON HARBOR 8, MICHIGAN

CREDIT
TO YOUR

HIGH
FIDELITY
SYSTEM

Model 3/532
Intermixes 10 and
12 inch records.
List Price $65.00

Model 3/531
NOn»mtermix.
List Price J54.S0

for 7, 10, and
INCH RECORDS

3-SPEED RECORD CHANGERS

Model 3/534
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List Price 133.60

WOOD BASE

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list Price J9.S0

Write for complete details to FF " 2

R0CKSAR CORPORATION • 215 East 37th Street, New York 16, N. Y.

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

SUMMER MUSIC

Continued from page 88

Aspen Festival

(Aspen, Colo.) June 30-September 5.
Eleven orchestral programs and 19
other programs under musical direc-
torship of William Steinberg. Perform-
ing forces are drawn from faculty and
students of the Aspen Institute; on
the faculty this year are Darius Mil-
haud (composer in residence), Martial
Singher, Mack Harrell, Rudolf Firkus-
ny, Vitya Vronsky, Victor Babin,
Szymon Goldberg, William Primrose,
Reginald Kell and the members of the
New Music String Quartet. On
August 14 there will be performances
of Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona and
Stravinsky's L'Histoiie du Soldat,

Music Under The Stars

(New Haven, Conn.) July and
August.

Six concerts in the Yale Bowl by the
New Haven Symphony conducted by
Harry Berman.

Les Concerts Symphoniques

(Montreal, P. Q,, Canada). July and
August.

Weekly orchestral concerts, with guest
conductors and soloists,

St. Paul Pop Concerts

(St. Paul, Minn.) July to end of
August.

Three orchestral concerts weekly.

Red Rocks Festival

(Denver, Colo.) July and August.
Concerts by the Denver Symphony,
conducted by Saul Caston, in the
Red Rocks natural amphitheatre.

Music Under The Stars

(Seattle, Wash.) July and August.
Light-opera season in the Green Lake
Aquatheatre, directed by Gustave
Stern.

Music Mountain

(Falls Village, Conn.). July and
August.

Sunday concerts by the Berkshire
String Quartet.

Continued on page <)2

ARROW . . . First Again

I The ultimate in phonograph reproducer performance

by Electro Sonic Laboratories.

™ XV NEW ESL PICK-UP

Highest compliance, unexcelled dynamic range ond transient response.
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Frequency Response: Hal from 20 cycles to 10,000 cycles, rfsino to 20,000 cycles
depending on record material,
Infermodu/otion Distortion: Well undtr 1%.

* Force: 5 grams. As low as 3 grams when professional type arms ore employed.

Additional verticol stytui force may be r^qvir^d by some changers for tripping purposes,
equivalent Mass fol itylm): .003 grom. Compliance: 4.43 x 10-* cm/dyne.
Output impedance: 1.5 ohms. Output Voltagtl I millivolt ot 1000 cycles
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IT HIGH-FIDELITY? Now A " ow

We have found many units labeled High
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if (oaruMi jr., mm took j, h i.

PHOTOGRAPH BY RICHARD BCATTlC

What

are the facts
about cancer
of the lung—?

just 2o years ago, in 1933, cancer of
the lung killed 2,252 American men.
Last year, it killed some 18,500.

WHY THIS STARTLING INCREASE? Our re-

searchers are finding the answers as
rapidly as funds and facilities permit
— but there isn't enough money.

doctors estimate that 50% of all men
who develop lung cancer could be
cured if treated in time. But we are
actually saving only 5% . . . just one-
tenth as many as we should.

why — ? Many reasons. But one of the
most important is not enough money
... for mobile X-ray units, for diag-
nosis and treatment facilities, for train-
ing technicians and physicians.

these are just a FEWof thereasons why
you should contribute generously to
the American Cancer Society. Won't
you please do it now? Your donation is
needed — and urgently needed — for the
fight against cancer is everybody's fight.

Cancer

MAN'S CRUEIEST ENEMY

Strike back— Give

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY

GENTLEMENi

□ Pleo$e send me free information
on cancer.

O Enclo$ed is my contribution of
$ to the cancer crusade.

Name.

Address.

City State

Simply addreti the envelope: CANCER
c/o Postmaster, Name of Your Town

June, 1954

9 1

www.americanradiohistorv.com

an important
announcement
to every
tape recorder
owner

from WEBCOR

1 ^

To the more than half a million
tape recorder owners, Web-
cor proudly announces its
first releases of recorded
tapes for your high-fidelity
musical enjoyment.

Recorded on specially con-
structed high-fidelity equip-
ment, WebcorTape Records
bring you the finest selections
on nonfading magnetic tape
at 7'/j ips. (Also available in
binaural recordings.)

Webcor Tape Records are
available in both 5 and 7-inch
reels for up to one hour of
uninterrupted listening pleas-
ure, without needle scratch
or annoying delay from usual
record changing.

Your favorite music store,
record counter, department
and appliance shop carries
the new Webcor Tape Rec-
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favorite recording forthe new-
est thrill in recorded music.

For a listing of current avail-
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Records, write Webcor, Rec-
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39, III. A free folder listing
releases will be sent to you.

all music sounds better on a

SUMMER MUSIC

Continued from page 9 j

Seven Arts Festival

(Pike, N. H.). July 4-19.

Berkshire Festival

(Tanglewood, Mass.) July 5-August
15-

Twelve concerts, on Saturday evenings
and Sunday afternoons, by the Boston
Symphony, conducted by Charles
Munch; programs center around Ber-
lioz sesquicentennial, with perform-
ances of La Damnation de Faust,
Romeo et Juliet, the Requiem, and the
song cycle Nuits d'Ete. Chamber-
orchestra concerts on Friday evenings,
devoted to music by Mozart and Bach;
chamber-music programs on Wednes-
day evenings; performances by stu-
dents at the Berkshire Music Center of
opera scenes and chamber music, with
student opera productions on the stage
of the theatre.

Esplanade Concerts

(Boston, Mass.) July 5-August '5-
Free concerts by the Boston Pops Or-

chestra, conducted by Arthur Fiedler,
in the Hatch Memorial Shell on the
Charles River Esplanade.

Carmel Bach Festival

(Carmel, Calif.) July 12 — ■.
Choral and instrumental music, mostly
by Bach, conducted by Gastone Usigli.

Hollywood Bowl Concert

(Hollywood, Calif.) Eight-week sea-
son beginning the middle of July.
Concerts by an orchestra composed
largely of Los Angeles Symphony
players; guest conductors and soloists.
Pattern followed is usually similar to
that of Lewisohn Stadium Concerts
and Robin Hood Dell Concerts.

Ravinia Festival

(RaviniaPark, 111.) June 28-August 2.
Concerts by the Chicago Symphony,
under guest conductors. Also cham-
ber music series.

Chautauqua Festival

Continued on page 93

?. INC. 1954 ■*■*#

m m

'SB

Iff

DISC-CllARCKR

RADIOACTIVE
CELL CUTS
RECORD STATIC!!

presenting the MERCURY
discharges static

This tiny plastic capsule clips to your cartridge . . . constantly
scans your records with an invisible ray of ionized air . . . dis-
charging and preventing static.

How the Mercury Disc-Charger* works: the plastic capsule con-
tains a square of radioactive material which draws static elec-
tricity off the record and helps prevent further accumulation of
static. Since it is static electricity which attracts dust to records
and which is a major factor in holding dust on records, the Disc-
Charger releases, in effect, the dust and reduces the familiar pop-
ping and crackling. Dust already on the record collects harm-
lessly on the stylus tip, is not scraped into the record.
The Mercury Disc-Charger is featherweight — one-half gram —
clips to any pickup arm.

See your local distributor, or
SHIPPED POSTPAID FOR ONLY $|J95 nr ite Unlay!

MERCURY SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTS CORP.

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High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

SUMMER MUSIC

Continued from page tj2

(Chautauqua, N. Y.) July 16- August

-25-

Concerts by symphony orchestra con-
ducted by Walter Hendl; six opera
productions under supervision of Al-
fredo Valenti and conducted by Alber-
to Bimboni and Edward Murphy, with
singers from the Metropolitan and
New York City rosters.

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

(Lee, Mass.) July 25 through August.
Modern-dance, ballet and ethnic dance
programs by faculty, students, guest
artists and companies, under the over-
all direction of Ted Shawn. Guest
companies announced so far include
the Celtic Ballet of Scotland, which
will present a repertoire ranging from
ballet through classical Scottish dance
forms to simple folk dances. For the
information of travelers in New Eng-
land, Lee is only a short drive from
Tanglewood.

Brevard Festival

(Brevard, N. C.) August 13-29.
Concerts by the Brevard Festival Or-
chestra, conducted by James Christian
Pfohl, on the grounds of the Transyl-
vania Music Camp.

Musica Antiqua at Avaloch

(Lenox, Mass.) Six concerts begin-
ning August 18, spaced through
two weeks.
Noah Greenberg conducting New
York Pro Musica Antiqua in Medieval,
Renaissance and Baroque vocal and
instrumental programs, on grounds of
Avaloch Inn, near Tanglewood.

Buffalo Civic Concerts

(Buffalo, N. Y.). June — .
Eighteen free orchestral concerts in
city parks, conducted by Jan Wolanek.

Cleveland Summer Pops Concerts

(Cleveland, Ohio.)
Twelve summer concerts in Cleveland
Stadium, conducted by Louis Lane.

Promenade Symphony Concerts
(Toronto, Ontario.)

Continued on page 104

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to select instantly tape recorder, radio,
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June, 1954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

eJie alio- Uite*t4.i

Arthur Fiedler

Symphony Conductor
of Boston POPS Orchestra
RCA Victor Recording Artist

47ij.irorn rugiiieered an */io am pfificat ion
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Joe >/im«w, Itprketey Ctt**n*m Eter-
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High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

AUDIO FORUM

Sir:

Why is it that my Garrard changer
simply stops in the middle of a change
cycle? No one seems to be able to
cure this or suggest a cure. I've talked
with several Garrard owners and some
never have this trouble although many
others do, and they are just as baffled
as I.

The changer works perfectly well
except for this, and it is evident only
on LP and 45 speeds; 78s are changed
without mishap. Rubber drive belts
have been replaced to no avail. If I
push the turntable by the jammed
position the changer works normally
until another record drops, and then
I have to get up to give it another
shove. Since this seems to be a com-
mon Garrard affliction, perhaps you
have the answer.

James Hall
Chicago, 111.

We have an RC-80 that exhibited the same
annoying habit we, too, found that
changing the drive belts didn't help. Yet
careful examination showed that, while
the mechanism Was stopped, the motor was
still running and the LP belt was slipping
on the motor shaft.

Service texts usually recommend that

This department is devoted to
those who have minor or major
technical problems with their hi-
fi systems, to those who are just
beginning to consider hi-fi in-
stallations, and to others simply
on the lookout for new ideas.
Material consists primarily of
suggestions and questions from
readers, which are welcomed, and
of suggestions, comments and
answers from the editors. Letters
should be addressed to The Au-
dio Forum, High Fidelity Maga-
zine, Publishing House, Great
Barrington, Mass.

Doors cover front of this equipment cabinet,

June, 1954

pulleys and belts be cleaned with carbon
tetrachloride when there is evidence of
slippage. But we don't believe that many
have a bottle of carbon let around the
house: we didn't, and tried wiping
things off with a clean cloth. Needless to
say, that didn't work either; apparently
the Garrard is very sensitive to oil or dirt
on its pulleys, and the slightest film makes
it balk. It was finally cured by wiping
the belts, idler wheel, pulleys, turntable
rim and motor shaft with a cloth soaked
in rubbing alcohol, and wiping off the
alcohol with another cloth before it dried.
Been working fine ever since.

Sir:

Here is an individually tailored sys-
tem that may interest you, since it is
the result of many hours of experimen-
tation. Beginning with a console-
type radio-phonograph, I have pro-
gressed by degrees to the component
assembly shown in part by the photo-
graphs.

Immediately obvious in the upper
left section of the console cabinet is
a MagneCordette tape recorder and a
Hallicrafters SX-62 tuner. Response
of the tuner is 50 to 1 5,000 cycles and
its performance is superb on both
FM and AM.

To the right is the control section of
a Stromberg-Carlson 25-watt amplifier.
Below this I mounted a panel from a
Stromberg 10-watt amplifier. This
panel I use for my speaker selection
switch (a Fisher 16-gang control for
selection of any speaker or combina-
tion of speakers), an auxiliary on-off
switch for television or recorder, and
level controls for the air-coupler cross-
over network.

The air-coupler is the "telephone
booth" you described in Vol. 1, No. 1,
and is driven by an Electro-Voice
SP12-W1 woofer. In the vacant space
at the top is an E-V SP8-BT speaker;
the crossover network from General
Apparatus operates at 350 cycles.
These items are all removable as you
can see from the plugged screw holes.

Back to the equipment cabinet —
in the wall section of the top is a record
changer; beside it is a Rek-O-Kut turn-
table with a Pickering arm, cartridge
and compensator.

I left an E-V SP12 in the cabinet at
the bottom. In the corner opposite
the air-coupler I have a Baronet en-
closure mounted at the ceiling, with
an SP8-BT speaker. I have SP8-BT's
mounted in ceiling baffles in the other
Continued on page 96

A nicely paneled built-in corner system.

www.americanradiohistorv.com

THE

MAJOR ADVANCE
in a Decade!!

THE

LABORATORY of ELECTRONIC
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PRICED AT A MODERATE $295

CATENOID

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WRITE FOR INFORMATION TO

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AUDIO FORUM

Continued from page 95

rooms of the house.

This is the final effort. Now I will
sit back and listen until the major
record companies go to binaural — ■
then . . . well, we'll see!

Britt Brown
Wichita, Kan.
Air. Broun is Music Editor of the
Wichita Eagle. Certainly has the equip-
ment for it.

Sir:

We take this moment to offer a few
considered remarks on the Ferranti
pickup.

First, let us say that our demonstra-
tor has been in almost constant daily
use for well over a month, to the
thorough satisfaction of all who hear
it. There are two criticisms which
we have heard voiced hereabout, and
which should be widely debunked:
first, that the arm, being straight, can-
not track properly; second, that it just
looks too small and insecure. In an-
swer to the first it should suffice simply
to point out that the stylus or ribbon
movement within the head is offset,
providing exactly the same tracking
tangency as a bent arm of the same
length. One cannot answer the second,
except to appeal once again for the
recognition of clean, compact design,
wherever it may be found.

On the other score, there are valid
criticisms worth pointing out. We take
exception, for instance, to the state-
ment in Tested-in-the-Home that
"mounting is very simple." It was
not simple for the local audiophile
who was faced with the problem of
cutting a 1 13/32-in. hole in his W-in.
steel plate mounting board, nor for
anyone whose mounting board ex-
ceeds '/2-in. in thickness. It also be-
comes a two-man job if one cannot
conveniently reach from the top to
the bottom of the board. A minor
annoyance: the finger lift is as proble-
matic as the handle of a demi-tasse
cup when trying to cue the pickup on
an inner band. Finally, a warning: the
ball bearings of the pivot assembly are
not in races, but loose. Do not re-
move the bottom retaining ring unless
prepared to catch the tiny balls and
Continued on page <jK

TANGLEWOOD

just across the road from

AVALOCH

A fine country inn at
Lenox, Massachusetts

"We try to free our guests from
the usual resort impositions.
They find facilities which they
may use or ignore in an atmos-
phere which is neither commer-
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From Aug. 18th to 29th,
Avaloch presents on its estate

the Prima vera Players
& Singers
of the New York
Pro Musica Antiqua

in the first summer festival of medi-
eval, renaissance, and baroque music
to be given in the United States.

For information, write
AVALOCH, Dept. A

Lenox, Mossat husetls Tel. Lenox 41
Roy Rappaport, Prop.

CALIFORNIA

For leisurely
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9 6

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

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* COMPONENTS AT NET PRICES

* FINE CABINETRY

* SERVICE ON ALL HI-FI COMPONENTS

(?u4&mc'uifleA4, One.

2259 Gilbert Ave. . Capitol 3153 . Cincinnati 2, Ohio
" A Component or a Complete System"

PENNSYLVANIA

PHILADELPHIANS: for

1 . Unbiased Professional recommendations.

2. Surprising Comparisons with ordinary

"hi-fi"

3. Free assembly and testing.

4. Trade-ins, and guaranteed used equip-

ment.
6. Records at savings.

LECTRONICS
Cily Line Center GR. 7-9535

n the PHILADELPHIA area

YOUR COMPLETE SUPPLIER is

HIGH FIDELITY S COMMERCIAL
SOUND STUDIO
709 Arch St., Philadelphia *, Pa.
Phone: lOmbard 3-7390

CANADA

CANADA'S FIRST
HIGH - FIDELITY

RADIO, PHONOGRAPH, RECORD AND
TELEVISION CENTRE

Stromberg-Cerlsoo "Custom 400"
Hallicrafters Hi-Fi. Short Wsvr Ik T-V
Fisher Radio — Concert one Tape Recorders
All Makes of Hi-Fidelity Records

Gultom. Sound and (Vidian ua.

390 EGLINTON WEST TORONTO, ONT.

Phone HUdson 1-1119

IN CANADA—

There's one place where you can find — and
hear — all your high-fidelity equipment needs.
We carry a complete stock . . . come in, or write
in. for a chat, a look, and a listen.

flLECTRO^OlCE

w SOUND SYSTEMS

141 Decide* St., West. TORONTO

June, 1954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

$ 1 Q50

is still our price
for a precision
hand-made

TRANSCRIBER

DIAMOND
NEEDLE

Our diamonds are not "cut-rate
diamonds set in discarded shanks"
but genuine hand-made diamond
tips of broadcast quality, uncon-
ditionally guaranteed for approxi-
mately i ,000 playing hours. These
diamond tips are set in your own
needle shank replacing your worn
sapphire (which if you value your
records) has not been used for
over 50 hours. Your needle shank
is still as good as new and needs
only a new tip.

Retipping your needle with a
Transcriber Diamond is the most
economical way you can own a
diamond needle. Buying from us
by mail as thousands of others
have done for almost 10 years
saves you up to 5096.

No, we are not the "world's
largest manufacturers of diamond
styli" but we are the pioneers in
the retipping of needles with
diamond.

Send your needle to be retipped
along with check or money order
for $10.50 plus 25c for postage
and handling charges to:

THE TRANSCRIBER CO.

172 Green Street
Dept. H Boston 30, Mass.

AUDIO FORUM

Continued from page <;6

spend upward of thirty minutes, with
specially improvised tools, getting
them back in again.

Jerry Landis
Philadelphia, Pa.

Mr. Land is is with Omega Custom Music,
and his warnings should be heeded. We
installed a Ferranti pickup on a ¥i-in.
turntable board and found it necessary to
countersink a 2 l A-in. hole, centered on
the 1 l^fiG-in. hole, to a depth ofYs-in.
in order to get the bottom ring in place.
Not a simple job without a drill press —
particularly in plywood! An easier way,
but not as satisfactory in appearance,
might be to cut a fairly large hole in the
thick board, capping it with a thinner
piece in which the hole for the pickup would
be cut.

Sir:

My friend Bill Stephenson and I
have been batting the audio bug
around for several years. We don't
believe everything we hear about

equipment, circuits, etc., so we just
try our own ideas if we think they
have merit. Perhaps some of your
readers would like to try some of the
material we have discovered.

We literally stumbled over a material
that paved the way for easily-made yet
effective partitions for speaker enclo-
sures. In our dreams we could visualize
a material that could be easily bent
and yet would remain stable, a material
that would be readily available, a ma-
terial that would not be obviously
resonant. The answer was at our feet.
We are happily impressed with its
usefulness in building tapered chan-
nels for a compact air-coupler with a
back-loading horn.

Our bass speaker enclosures are
made in three-deck sandwich form.
For separating the plywood sandwich
and providing sidewalls for the parti-
tions we use an asphalt material avail-
able at most lumber yards or suppliers
of building materials. Asphalt ex-
pansion strips were developed for
cushioning the expansion and con-
traction of concrete sidewalk and
Continued on page 100

'in

15>

Thousands of \y rj/
enthusiastic audiophiles 'v _~|
hove proved the ACRO

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J, - N

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TRANSFORMER
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ACRO TO-300
ACRO TO-3 10

net $24.75
net $18.75

net $39.75-

{TO-31 0 used to change Over 6V6 Omplifler to
ultra-linear operation)

ACRO TO-330

(Push-pull porollvl ultrO-linear Operation using 4
KT 66's, 5881'* or $Q7\ to deliver a power Output
of 60 watts.)
Shipping wts.

(TO-300— 7 lbs.) (TO-310— 6 lbs.) (TO-330 —17 lbs.)

RESCO

Shipping wt. 25 lbs.

ORDER BY MAIL

Send check or M.O. Include postage.

Ipept A 7th & Arch Sts

9 s

Phila. 6, Pa

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

MUSIC LISTENER'S

I BOOKSHELF

LATEST RELEASE

THE SECOND SUPPLEMENT TO THE
WORLD'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RECORDED
MUSIC: Francis F. Clough & G. J.
Cuming.

This is the continuation, covering the
period from mid-1951 to the end of
1952 of the original Encyclopedia. The
first supplementary volume of a series
intended to keep the original work up
to date.

No. 133 $9.25

The original World's Encyclopedia
of Recorded Music (first supplement
bound in) is still available. This
volume includes all electrically re-
corded music up to the middle of
1951.

No. 57 $17.50

FESTIVALS EUROPE: Robert Meyer, Jr.
A comprehensive guide to over 600 an-
nual celebrations in 21 European coun-
tries. Chapter arrangement is alphabetical
by country, with a chronological calendar
of events by months.

No. 1 38 $4.00

FESTIVALS U. S. A.: Robert Meyer, Jr.
For those who are unaware of the hundreds
of colorful celebrations that take place
each year in every corner of our land.
Indispensable for the traveler, delightful
reading for the stay-at-home.
No. 139 $4.50

HOME AND PORTABLE RADIO MANUAL:

A Rider Publication.

One of a specialized series of radio manu-
als planned to fulfill the requirements of
service organizations. Information on
home and portable radio receivers. An
opportunity to accumulate a complete
file of servicing information.
No. 136 $1.65

THE RECORDING AND REPRODUCTION OF
SOUND: Oliver Read, Second Edition, 805
pages, over 700 illustrations, cloth. A
complete and authoritative treatment of
the entire subject of sound. Covers all
aspects of recording.

No. 46 $7.95

BINDERS FOR HIGH FIDELITY Magazine:

Now we are ready with Volume 4A binder,
red leatherette, gold-stamped on front
and backbone to hold 6 issues. Binder 4B
will be available later in the year. . .$2.75

HIGHLIGHTS OF COLOR TELEVISION: John
R. Locke, Jr.

A clearly-written paper-bound booklet
covering colorimetry, the N.T.S.C. color
signal, the transmitter, color receiver and
the shadow mask tri-color picture tube.
No. 134 $.99

INTRODUCTION TO COLOR TV: M. Kauf-
man and H. Thomas.

Detailed attention given to the color
television system, with emphasis on the
receiver. A fine book for service tech-
nicians, students and engineers who are
not familiar with the color television
process.

No. 135 $2.10

BURKE -BEETHOVEN DISCOGRAPHY: a Re-
print, in the form of a 16-page excerpt from
the Spring, 1952 issue of HIGH FIDEL-
ITY.

No. 122 $.50

HERMAN MILLER FURNITURE BOOK: 116

pages of photographs and drawings that
offer a world of ideas for cabinets, furni-
ture pieces, and storage walls, many suit-
able for custom hi-fi installations.
No. 123 $5.00

MICROPHONES by Engineering Staff, BBC,
1 14 pages, cloth. Covers the theory, de-
sign and characteristics of all standard
microphone types.

No. 73 $3.25

HOW TO BUILD A RECORD LIBRARY:

Howard Taubmann. Lists the basic works
considered by the author as most impor-
tant for both a starting library and a more
advanced one. Every field of music.
No. 125 $1.50

GOOD LISTENING: R. D. Darrell. A highly
readable guide to the enjoyment of music
as directly related to recordings available
on LP. The last 37 pages are an index-
discography listing one recommended LP
recording of every composition mentioned.
No. 126 $2.75

LOUDSPEAKERS: G. A. Briggs. Intended
for those interested in the Loudspeaker
and how it works and how results may be
improved. Non-technical terms through-
out.

No. 56 $1.60

WILLIAMSON AMPLIFIER BOOKLET: D. T.

N. Williamson, 36 pages, 31 illustrations.
Contains complete design data for con-
structing this famous high-fidelity am-
plifier.

No. 94 $1.00

HOME MUSIC SYSTEMS: Edward Tatnall
Canby. 300 pages, illustrated. How to
assemble and enjoy high-fidelity equip-
ment at tremendous savings. Can help
you avoid making expensive mistakes.
No. 109 $3.95

HIGH FIDELITY SIMPLIFIED: Harold Weiler,
209 pages, 104 illustrations. A most
understandable discussion of the funda-
mental theories of high-fidelity sound re-
production. Working designs for speaker
enclosure.

No. 101 $2.50

SOUND REPRODUCTION: Third Edition of
G. A. Briggs' famous book. Many new
chapters and 175 new and original illus-
trations. Mr. Briggs, aided by hundreds
of photographs and drawings, bring his
usual flair for lucid, readable explana-
tion to all the essential elements of high-
fidelity reproduction.

No. 110 $3.50

AMPLIFIERS: Briggs and Garner, 216
pages, 174 illustrations, cloth. Covers,
in characteristic non-technical language,
the myriad considerations involved in
amplifier design and construction. Details
given for construction of a recommended
amplifier.

Thi* book it now out of print, but HIGH
FIDELITY Magazine can fill a limited num-
ber of order* from the remaining stock on
hand.

No. 100 $2.95

Book Department
I HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
| Great Barrington, Mass.

I enclose $ for which please send me the books indicated

by the circled numbers below. (No C.O.D.'s please.)
*Send 25c for foreign postage registration.
46 56 57 73 94 100 101 109 110
125 126 133 134 135 136 138 139

NAME

ADDRESS

122 123
Binder 4A

June, 1954

www.americanradiohistorv.com

TANGLEWOOD AREA

High -Fidelity Headquarters
in the
Berkshires

SAMMY VINCENT, inc.

23 NORTH STREET
PITTSFIELD, MASS.

Carrying a complete line of the finest
high-fidelity equipment and LP's.

BERKSHIRE
TOWN and COUNTRY
PROPERTIES

Wheeler w Taylor- inc.

Realtors
Telephone i
Great Barrington, Mass.

Within easy
commuting distance to

TANGLEWOOD

Good food — fine liquors — lodging
jSwimming and recreational facilities a
Hi-fi dinner music
Make reservations well in advance

THE EGREMONT TAVERN

South Egremont, Mass.

Wrile Box 777 or Phone Great Barrington SS7-W
i I ' IP

BEN FRANKLIN PRESS

INCORPORATED

fftgh //ne Printers
since 19 10

printers of
High Fidelity Magazine

50 Greenway St. Pittsfield. Mass.

AUDIO FORUM

Continued from page 99

paved highway sections. The expan- '
sion strips we have found most useful
are one-half inch thick, six inches high
and five feet long; they are made of as-
phalt with a trace of rope fiber for
strength, and finished on each side '
with asphalt-impregnated heavy paper.
It is an easy matter to mold curved yet
smooth sidewalls for horns or air
columns because the material can be
readily bent after softening at low
heat. We found a heat lamp to be
the most practical source of heat for
this purpose. The material remains
stable when returned to normal tem-
perature.

After strips are formed, they can be
fastened to the plywood with water-
proof linoleum cement. Care should
be taken to see that all joints and con-
tacts with the plywood are sealed 1
air-tight.

Howard Ai. Van Sickle
Mankato, Minn.

Sir:

In the March 1954 issue of High
Fidelity, your item on Uniform Equal-
ization (page 50) states that I " . . .
did not amplify nor explain."

The Columbia LP microgroove re-
cording characteristic curve was pub-
lished at the time Columbia introduced
the long playing record in 1948. The
curve was made known to eliminate
guesswork in the design of reproduc-
ing equipment. All Columbia micro-
groove records produced from that
time to the present have been made to
this characteristic curve.

In the past, some manufacturers have
used recording characteristic curves
which differed significantly from the
original Columbia curve. More re-
cently, these curves have been altered
to approach more closely an industry
standard recording and reproducing
characteristic as exemplified by the
RIAA curve, which is identical to the
NARTB recently revised standard.

On the attached graph, the RIAA
recording characteristic curve is plotted
along with the original Columbia LP
microgroove curve. It is seen that there
is very little difference between the
two curves, less than 1V2 db in the
Continued on page 102

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IOO

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

CANADA'S FIRST HIGH-FIDELITY RADIO,
PHONOGRAPH, RECORD AND TELEVISION CENTRE

Complete stock of Stromberg-Carlson, Fisher, Hallicrafters,
Concertone, Brociner, Scott, River Edge, Sonotone, Electro- Voice,
RCA Victor and General Electric Hi-Fi equipment.

Prompt attention to mail orders — - We ship from coast to coast
in Canada, aircargo, express or freight.

TOP RATED

teiting orgfiiiatf^af

Hear tto* m '

at Hudson

PUoir

MODEL
AF-824
FM-AM TUNER

This deluxe "Pilotuner" gives you the utmost in
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cartridges; equalizer for accurate playback of all rec-
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be switched off. Temperature compensated oscillator
assures minimum drift. Built-in antennas. Fully en-
closed dull gold front panel, detachable for cabinet
installation: Size 14ft" W, 7V4" H, 8^" D. Shpg wt
15 lbs.

Model AF-824 Net Price $119.50

MODEL
AA-903

AMPLIFIER &
PREAMPLIFIER

New 10- watt Williamson type amplifier, excellent com-
panion piece to our Pilotuners. Bass, Treble, Volume
and Equalizer controls mounted on decorative front
panel (removable for cabinet installation). Freq, Re-
sponse ±1 db. 15 to 40,000 cycles. Employs 7 tubes
and 3 Inputs for radio, auxiliary equipment, and one
Input for matching various magnetic cartridges. Sizes:
12" W, 7" H, 8V4" D. Shpg wt 15 lbs.
Model AA-903 Net Price $69.50

AA-904

1 . MODEL

AUDIO AMPLIFIER

New, improved Williamson Type Amplifier using famous
KT66 Tubes. Music at its very best! This 5-tube 30
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be located up to 50 ft. away. Freq. Response ±1 db.
20-20,000 cps. Gold finished heavy gauge steel chassis.
Includes shielded audio input cable and mounting
hardware. Size: 14" W, 7Vi" H, 4H~ D. Shpg wt
24 lbs.

Model AA-904 Net Price $89.50

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at all three hudsan Salesrooms- where you can
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New York 7

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35 William St.
Newark, N. I.
MArket 4-5151

June, 1954

IOI

www.americanradiohistorv.com

NOW*.. enjoy luxurious

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beautiful 'tftedind

LIBRETTO remote control

now you can have
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Output Impedance ... 8 and 16 ohms.

Input Selector . . . 4 -position on 5*ft. ex-
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AUDIO FORUM

Continued from page i oo

range from 100 to 15,000 cycles. Be-
low 100 cycles there is somewhat more
departure due to the greater bass level
on the Columbia record. The vast
majority of reproducing equipment
falls off rapidly below 100 cycles, par-
ticularly if the acoustic response is
taken into account. Because of this,
the departure of the curves is not sig-
nificant in most cases. Where the
playback system does have real re-
sponse below 100 cycles, the greater
low bass level in the Columbia record

Columbia LP and RIAA recording curves.

gives an improvement in signal-to-
rumble ratio.

Account must also be taken of the
fact that studio acoustics, type and
placement of microphones, control
room acoustics, monitor speaker char-
acteristics, and the musical judgment
of the recording director can have far
greater effect upon the resulting sound
balance than the differences repre-
sented by these curves.

Considering the foregoing, it is clear
that the RIAA reproducing curve is
practically ideal for playback of all
Columbia microgroove records. In
the interest of exact standardization, a
gradual change over to the RIAA char-
acteristic is being carried out. However,
Continued on page 104

IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE
in

HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE

For Advertising Rates, write
Department A. D.

High Fidelity Magazine
Great Barrington, Mass.

TRADER'S MARKETPLACE

Here's the place to buy, swap, or sell
audio equipment. Rates are only 20c a
word (including address), and your ad-
vertisement will reach 35,000 to 70,000
music listeners. Remittance must accom-
pany copy and insertion instructions.

CRESTWOOD 401 (Bosic) Hi-Fi Top. Recorder, with
pre-recorded tape. Like new; only $164.50. B. K.
Batch, 314 Jefferson Avenue, Rahway, N. J.

CAREER OPPORTUNITY — Wonted experienced Sound
Soles Engineer to begin work as assistant to division
manager In fast growing organization preeminent in
High Fidelity industry and specializing In manufac-
ture of electro-acoustic products. Position requires
ability to answer technical correspondence, partici-
pate in designs to meet consumer requirements, assist
in conduct of trade shows, write some copy, and
gradually to ossume administrative duties. Same
travel. Degree desirable but not necessary if backed
by experience in associated industry. Requires mov-
ing to suburb of South Bend, 90 miles east of Chicago.
Contact Souther, Electro-Voice, Inc., Buchanan, Mich.

PACIFIC Northwest fans — we deliver ond demonstrate
free anywhere In Washington. Telephone or write.
Our station wagon brings Klipschorn loudspeakers,
H. H. Scott amplifiers. Browning tuner. William T.
Roymond ft Associates, 17 Oak Pork, lakewood
9263, Tocoma.

SELL, like new Scott 112B, Knight 20 Wolt Amplifier,
G. E. Compensator, Donald Ausheim, Canton, South
Dakota.

5 Element Yogi FM Anlennos. Cut to your speci-
fication. All seamless aluminum tubing, $9.95 pre-
paid. Wholesale Supply Co., Lunenburg, Mass.

FABULOUS "RED TAG" SALE OF NEW AND USED
EQUIPMENT FOR UNBEATABLE AUDIO VALUES —
Right in the Heart of Manhattan — no need to travel
— COME INI LOOK AROUND! LISTEN I or SHOP BY
MAIL! Examples:

1) Nationally advertised Ultralinear Williamson
Amp — Kt 66's — Partridge C Type Grain Oriented
Steel Transformers-Sale: $77.00 ($129.95 value)
Matching Front End — 20 Combinations Equalijalion-
Loudness — 3 Tubes $69.50 ($99.50 Value) Special:
Both Units: $140.00.

2) Famous 40 Watt laboratory Amplifier, 1614s, 12
AXs, 5AW4s Weighs 41 Ibs.l Sale Price: $111.95
($160.00 Value) Matching Front end $79.50 ($99.50
Value) AM-FM Tuner available to match at similar
reduction.

3) Nationally Advertised 3 Woy Speaker System —
(7 Elements) $550.00 (A $695.00 Valu.).

4) Famous Tape Recorder — NA8 Standards
$380.00 (A $440.00 Value).

Above 4 Specials in Original Factory Cartons —
1 year Warranty.

Many comparoble buys in new, demonstrator-used,
and guaranteed second equipment in all price ranges.
All equipment may be bought on 10 Day Trial. A
Listing of hundreds of such items is available for
mail order buyers — send $.50 ond self-addressed
envelope far same (Ref. against first purchase).
Tradeins: Stretch your purchasing power even fur-
ther by trading your unwanted oudio or photographic
equipment — Free estimates.

INTERNATIONAL AUDIO EXCHANGE
1 101 Lexington Avenue (77th Street)
N.Y.C. 21, N. Y.

Open Daily 11 to 9 or by appointment.
RE 7-8334 MO 7-41 84

"Hi-Fi" bug sent abroad by employers forced to sell
one of the finest Hi. Ft installations ever assembled
for home use. Complete Binaural set-up plus separate
pickups for each speed. Separate AM and FM tuners.
Manufactured by LEAK, GRAY, REK-O-KUT, JENSEN,
BROWNING and others. Equipment includes o VOIGHT
speaker, the best ever made — anywhere. Sell at
sacrifice price. SWITHINBANK, 133 East 39th Street,
N. Y. 16. Murray Hill 3-4179.

IMPROVE your music system! Write your question
to THE HI-FI WIZARD, 507 Fifth Avenue, New York 17,
or call MU 2-2444. Consulting Audio Engineer.
"Know How" advice on changes, installation — any
problems.

TAPE RECORDERS, Tapes, Accessories, unusual values.
Dressner, 624K E. 20th St., N. Y. C.

102

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

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ADVERTISING INDEX

A-V Top* Libraries 70

Allied Radio Corp 9

Altec Lansing Corp. 82

Ampex Corp 17

Arrow Electronics 91

Audio Devices, Inc Inside Front Cover

Audio Exchange, Inc 103

Audio Workshop, Inc. 97

Avalochlnn 96

Baker Fidelity Corporation 97

Beam Instruments Corp 8

Bell Sound Systems, Inc 6

Berlioz Society, Inc 73

Bonn Music Systems 97

Boiak, R. T., Co 101

Brociner Electronic Lab. 104

Cancer Society 91

Capitol Records Back Cover

Centralab 89

Collaro 90

Columbia Records 71

Concerlone Recorders, Berlant Associates . 4

Contemporary American Furniture 97

Cox, Hal, Custom Music 97

Customcrafters, Inc 97

Custom Sound & Vision, Ltd 97, 101

Diamond Stylus Co 94

Egremont Tavern 100

Electro-Voice, Inc 24

Electro-Voice Sound Systems 97

Elektra Records 72

Esoteric Records. . . 72

Figart's Sound Un-Ltd 96

Fisher Radio Corp 7, 16

FM Station Directory 100

Franklin, Ben, Press 100

General Apparatus Co 10

Coodmans Industries Ltd 23

Cray Research & Development Co., Inc.. . 21

Hack Swain Productions 69

Harrison, M. & N., Corp., Inc 22

Hartley, H. A., Co., Inc 104

Harvey Radio Co., Inc 83

Heath Co 90

High-Fidelity House 97

Hollywood Electronics 96

Homchis, John P., Jr 72

Hudson Rodio & TV Corp 101

Jensen Mfg. Co 1

Leslie Creations 72

London Gramophone Corp 66

Lowe Associates 97

Lyrichord Discs, Inc 72

Magnecord, Inc 20

Maranti, 5. B 86

Master Electronics Co. 89

McCohan, Don, Inc 86

Mcintosh Laboratory, Inc 14, 81

Mercury Record Corp 68

Mercury Scientific Products Corp 92

Music Box 73

Music Listeners Bookshelf 99

National Company 18, 19

Newark Electric Co 84

Newcomb Audio Products 85

Omega Electronics 68, 72

Pentron Corp 86

Pernio, Inc 90

Pickering & Co., Inc 2

Precision Electronics, Inc 93

Professional Directory 96, 97

RAM Co 97

RCA Engineering Products Division. ... 93

RCA -Victor Division 63

Radio Craftsmen, Inc 88

Radio Electric Service Co. of Pa., Inc.. 97, 98

Rauland-Borg Corp 102

Record Market 72

Rek-O-Kut Co 12

Replica Records 72

Scott, Herman Hosmer, Inc S

Stephens Mfg. Corp 15

Tetrad 87

Thorens Co 80

Traders' Marketplace 102

Transcriber Co 98

Truvox Mfg. Co 97

Turntable, The 72

University Loudspeakers, Inc 13

United Transformer Co Inside Bock Cover

V-M Corp 11

Valentino, Thomas J., Inc .72

Vector Labs .97

Vincent, Sammy, Inc .100

Voice & Vision, Inc .97

Vox Productions, Inc 67

Laboratory of Electronic Engineering.

WFMT

WRR-FM

WXHR

Walco (Electrovox Co., Inc.). .

... 89

Weingarten Electronic Laboratories

. 96

Westlab

Westminster Recording Co.. .

AT YOUR SERVICE

The reputation of the AU-
DIO EXCHANGE as the most
reliable source of fully guar-
anteed used hi-fi equipment
is based mainly on its excel-
lent service department.

If your hi-fi equipment re-
quires servicing, ovail your-
self (as many leading figures
in the world of music do) of
the expert staff and fully
equipped laboratory facilities
maintained by the AUDIO
EXCHANGE.

Information on service and
free catalog of fully guaran-
teed used high fidelity com-
ponents on request. Write
Dept. HF-6.

•

PHONOMAT the wonderful
foam rubber mat for record
changers, gives you clearer,
finer, truer musical reproduc-
tion and protects your expen-
sive equipment.
PHONOMAT cushions your
records * Eliminates record
slip * Reduces motor rumble *
Saves needle and record wear
• Eliminates pull of pickups on
records . . ■ indispensable for
Fairchild cartridges . . . impor-
tant far Pickering * Covers
worn turntoble surfaces *
Washable . . . Keeps record
cleaner.

PHONOMAT specifications:
10-in. diameter for record
changer, Ji-in. thick virgin
foam rubber, or 12-in. dia-
meter, l/8-ln. thick for profes-
sional turntable. Both with
standard 5/16 center hole.
$1.75 postpaid. Send check or
money order. (No C.O.D.'s
please.) 10 day money back
guarantee. Write Dept. HF-22.

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THE AUDIO EXCHANGE, INC.

159-19 Hillside Avenue
Jamaica 32, N. Y. • OLympia 8-0445

June, 1954

103

www.americanradiohistorv.com

THE

Perfect Match

OF SPEAKER AND
SPEAKER ENCLOSURE

People who hear the British-built
Hartley 215 for the first time are
amazed by its superbly clean per-
formance. Those who own and
live with it never cease to marvel.

Rut neither have really heard the
215 at its absolute best . . . unless
they've heard it operating from
u Hartley BOFFLE Speaker
Enclosure,

One of the principal features of
the Hartley 215 Speaker is that
it is free from resonance distor-
tion. The Hartley Boffle was de-
signed to match this quality, and
is itself entirely free from acous-
tical resonances.

Most speaker cabinets are actu-
ally tuned resonant systems. They
introduce response peaks, and
should not be used with the non-
resonant 215. In the Hartley
Boille, the 215 provides smooth
response over the entire audible
spectrum.

There is no doubt that a Hartley
215 will provide you with better
sound reproduction . . . but for the
very best, hear its performance in
a Hartley Borne.

HARTLEY 215
LOUDSPEAKER

11 pried at
**5

Sold by

frunchised tlculers
or write to Dept. HF-2

H. A. HARTLEY CO., INC.

521 East 162nd St., Bronx 51. N. Y.

AUDIO FORUM

Continued from page 102

no identification to distinguish such
records from existing ones is contem-
plated .

William S. Bachman
New York, N. Y.

Mr. Bachman is Director of Engineering
and Development for Columbia Records,
Inc., and his point is well taken (see chart
above). To equalize Columbia records
properly (as well as other records following
that curve), RIAA compensation could be
used with a slight cut from the bass tone
control.

SUMMER MUSIC

Continued from page 93

Summer concerts by Toronto Phil-
harmonic under guest conductors.

San Diego Symphony

(San Diego, Calif.)
Six summer concerts in Balboa Hark
Bowl.

Starlight Theatre

(Kansas City, Mo.).
Extensive summer series of light-
opera productions in Swope Park
Amphitheatre.

Twilight Time Summer Series

(Oklahoma City, Okla.).
Eight concerts on Fridays by Okla-
homa City Symphony players con-
ducted by Tracy Silvester.

San Salvador

(Central America) August 17-31.
Opera; choral music. Rossini's The
Barber of Seville; Verdi's La Traviata;
Haydn's The Seasons; Verdi's Manzoni
Requiem. Sinfonica Ejercito Salva-
dorena and Sociedad Coral Salva-
dorena conducted by Ion Cubiceo.
Soloists: GaborCarelli, Eleanor Knapp,
Lorenzo Alvary, Lloyd Harris.

Festivals y Concursos de Musica
Chilena

(Santiago de Chile) October-Nov-
ember.

Orchestral and chamber-music con-
certs, including first performances of
works by Chilean composers.

PRESENTING
THE

BROCINER
MARK 12
AMPLIFIER

THE FIRST COMPLETE
HIGH-QUALITY AMPLI-
FIER SYSTEM USING
MILITAR Y- PROVEN
' PRINTED CIRCUITS"

12' It alt Power Amplifier* ivilh
iUtss & Trehle (.out rots* Phono
Amplifier ami (Amtfiettsalar • in a
Single Unit $98.25

• BROCINKK Duality at low rust . . * made
passible by economical production through the use
of etched circuitry and semi-automatic assembly,

* Performance worthy of use with the finest
speakers and phono pickups.

* Flexibility of control ordinarily found only in
expensive amplifiers.

* Handsome, iridescent, maroon and fold
housing . , . attractive as remote control unit.
Compact and easy to install in cabinet.

• Full 12 watts at less than \% distortion,

• Preamplifier for all types of high-quality
phono pickups,

• Record Compensator: independent TURN-
OVER and ROLI.-OfV Controls provide 24 play-
back characteristics.

* Tape take-off jack.

Available at better high-fidelity dis-
tributors. Literature on^refueat.

BROCINER

BROCINER ELECTRONICS LABORATORY

Mev "crt 14. H. 1

104

High Fidelity Magazine

www.americanradiohistorv.com

WITH COVER REMOVED

PRINTED CIRCUIT CONSTRUCTION

SUITED TO 7" RACK PANEL MOUNTING

NEW HEIGHT OF FIDELITY
20 WATTS
KIT FORM

The Linear Standard amplifier climaxes a project
assigned to our audio engineering group a year ago. The
proDlem was, why does a Williamson circuit amplifier which
tests beautifully in the laboratory seem to have consider-
able distortion in actual use? It took a year to fully deter-
mine the nature and cause of these distortions and the
positive corrective measures. This new amplifier not only
provides for full frequency response over the audio range
but, in addition, sets a new standard for minimum transient
distortion.

An inherent weakness of the Williamson circuit lies
in the fact that its negative feedback becomes positive at
subsonic frequencies. The resultant instability in use lends
to parasitic oscillation at the high end and large subaudio
cone excursions both of which produce substantial dis-
tortions. The Linear Standard Amplifier uses Multiple Loop
Feedback and network stabilization to completely eliminate
these instabilities. The oscillograms below show compara-
tive performance. The flat frequency response and ex-
tremely low intermediation distortion provided by 36 db
feedback, are self evident from the curves shown.

In addition to providing an ideal amplifier electrically,
considerable thought was given to its physical form. A
number of points were considered extremely important: (1)
Size should be minimum (power and audio on one chassis).
(2) Each kit must have identical characteristics to lab
model. (3) Rugged, reliable, structure is essential.

This resulted in a rather unique construction employ-
ing a printed circuit panel as large as the chassis with
virtually all components pre assembled and wired. The
result is that each kit, which comes complete, including
tubes and cover, can be fully pretested before shipment.
Additional wiring involves only the connection of 17 leads
to screw terminals for completion.

LINEAR STANDARD TYPE MLF
AMPLIFIER SPECIFICATIONS . . ,

Rated Power Output:
Intermodulation Distortion:
Frequency Response (controlled):.
Hum & Noise Level:.

Feedback:

Output impedances (not critical):

.20 Watts

,07%-lW, 1%-20W
.1 db 20 to 20,000 cycles
_S0 db below rated output

_ 36 db

j4, 8, 16

i mum i muni

UNUO STANDUtO PCWfi AMPllfllR
MULTI-LOW THMACK)
IKUlUuU LiNOISTOBTEO POWIH OUTPUT
O-DB'211 WATTS
isn COXNCCTON

Tubes:

Dimensions & Weight:
Net Price"!

also 2, 5. 10, 20, 30 ohms
1-12»H 2-6AU6, 2-5881, 1-5V4G

SVi" x 8" x YIW, 24 lbs.

_ „$ 108.00

RES YO

U OF

THE ULTIMATE IN

MARIA KURENKO SINGS RACHMANINOFF

Capitol presents a distinguished album
by one of the world's outstanding art singers.
Mme. Kurenko, who studied under
Rachmaninoff, sings 8 of his best-known
songs, including 'In the Silence of Night!
'Oh, Cease Thy Singing, Maiden Fair',
'Sorrow in Springtime! 'The Soldier's Bride',
and 'Vocalise! as well as Moussorgsky's
'The Nursery' group.
SONGS OF RACHMANINOFF
MOUSSORGSKY: THE NURSERY

The never-lowered integrity of the Full Dimensional Sound sym-
bol has earned for it such comments as this one from Counter-
point Magazine: "Capitol's insignia is not an advertising hypo
- it is a truthful statement of a desirable fact!"
And from Joseph Gale, Assistant Editor of the New Jersey
Music and Arts: "Of all widely publicized recording techniques,
Capitol's FDS is most meaningful and immediately identifiable
for its clarity, gloss and silkiness"

Here is that most desired of all recording ideals -a superb
collaboration between artist, producer and engineer using the
most advanced recording facilities— a collaboration which
assures you the ultimate in high fidelity, the ultimate in musical
pleasure.

THESE RECENT CAPITOL

CLASSICS IN FULL DIMENSIONAL SOUND:

P 8254 Stravinsky: LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, conducted by

William Steinberg
P 8259 A NATHAN MILSTEIN RECITAL

Six favorite Milstein concert selections
P 8264 Beethoven: SONATA NO. 23 IN F MINOR, 'APPASSIONATA'
SONATA NO. 21 IN C MAJOR, 'WAIDSTEIN'

Sascha Gorodniczki, piano
P 8238 Aaron Copland: BILLY THE KlD

William Schumon: UNDERTOW

Ballet Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Joseph Levine
P 8190 PIANO MUSIC OF SPAIN

Leonard Pennario, piano
P 8226 Sibelius : LEGENDS OF LEMMINKAINEN, OPUS 22

The Symphony Orchestra of Radio Stockholm, conducted

by Sixten Ehrling

Consult Your Record Dealer lor Complete Repertoire

ol Capitol FDS Classics and Latest Releases

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